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SAN  D/EGO, 


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EARN, 


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TWO  DOOHS  WEST  OF  POST  OFFICE  OH 

F  STREET     3AN  DiEGO. 

B08  SOUTH  BROADWAY,  UOS  ANGELES. 


THE 


BENCH    AND    BAR 


OF   THE 


SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 


BY  HET^RY  S.  FOOTE. 


ST.  LOUIS: 

SOULE,  THOMAS  &  WENTWORTH. 
1876. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1876,  by 

HENRY  S,  FOOTE, 

in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


PREFACE, 


The  unpretending  volume  which  is  now  about  to  make  its 
appearance  in  the  world  of  books  owes  its  origin  to  the  follow- 
ing circumstances.  The  worthy  editor  of  the  Southern  Law 
Review,  with  whom  I  had  not  at  the  time  the  honor  of  a  per- 
sonal acquaintance,  towards  the  close  of  the  last  winter  re- 
quested me,  by  letter,  to  write  something  concerning  the 
^' Bench  and  Bar  of  the  South  and  Southwest,"  accompanying 
the  application  with  a  statement  that  he  had  been  induced  to 
open  this  correspondence  with  me  by  seeing,  a  few  months 
previous,  an  article  in  one  of  the  newspapers,  over  my  signa- 
ture, from  which  he  had  derived  some  entertainment.  To 
this  complimentary  request — though  much  occupied  with 
other  engagements — I  could  not  refuse  my  assent.  How  the 
first  of  the  articles  transmitted  by  me  to  St.  Louis  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  second,  third  and  fourth,  and  in  what  manner 
enough  was  written  by  me  to  fill  a  book  of  the  present  dimen- 
sions, will  sufficiently  appear  hereafter.  Meanwhile,  the  light 
and  hastily  prepared  article  which  had  thus  favorably  attracted 
the  notice  of  Mr.  Thompson  will  be  here  set  forth: 

"In  former  days,  during  the  earlier  years  of  Mr.  Madison's 
memorable  Administration,  that  interesting  portion  of  the 
present  State  of  Louisiana  which  lies  contiguous  to  the  fron- 
tiers of  the  then  Mississippi  Territory,  was  far  from  being  in 
as  peaceful  and  undisturbed  condition  as  it  should  have  been. 
The  Spanish  authorities  evinced  much  reluctance  to  yield  up 
to  the  Anglo-American  race  the  beauteous  and  fertile  region 
which  Mr.  Jefferson  had  so  dexterously  acquired  at  the  hands 
of  the  First  Consul  of  France,  in  the  year  1803.  Collisions  of 
a  very  serious  character  were  constantly  occurring  between 
citizens  of  the  United  States  on  one  side  of  the  dividing  line, 
and  the  earlier  Spanish  and  French  settlers  on  the  other.    The 


IV  PREFACE. 

volumes  of  the  American  State  Papers  of  that  period  abound 
with  the  most  thrilling  and  disgusting  recitals  of  murders, 
robberies,  and  even  crimes  of  a  more  shocking  character  still. 
The  surface  of  the  debatable  ground  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Baton  Rouge,  though  in  ostensible  possession  of  the  Span- 
iards, and  yet  called  West  Florida,  was  already  crowded  with 
enterprising  colonists  from  the  United  States,  who  were 
eagerly  awaiting  such  action  on  the  part  of  the  peace-loving 
American  Government  as  would  enable  them  to  realize  the 
large  fortunes  which  many  of  them  had  confidently  expected 
to  obtain  as  the  reward  of  removal  from  their  former  homes. 
At  length  the  patience  of  this  enterprising  class  was  exhaust- 
ed by  long  delay  and  multiplied  sufferings  at  the  hands  of  the 
corrupt  and  tyrannical  Spanish  officials,  and  they  resolved  to 
improvise  a  sort  oi  coup  d'etat.  About  the  year  1810  (as  my 
very  respectable  informant  assures  me)  a  meeting  of  American 
residents  was  called  in  the  town  of  Baton  Rouge,  upon  a  cer- 
tain bright  Monday  morning,  and  a  number  of  resolutions 
were  offered  and  unanimously  adopted,  declaring  the  terminal 
tion  of  Spanish  ride,  and  providing  for  the  immediate  estab- 
lishment of  a  republican  government.  These  resolutions 
prescribed  that  the  new  state  or  commonwealth  should  be 
called  the  'State  of  Florida;'  that  one  Fulwar  Skipwith 
should  be  the  Governor  thereof  for  the  time  being;  that  a 
court  should  be  forthwith  organized  under  the  name  of  the 
'Court  of  Florida,'  to  be  composed  of  three  justices,  of  which 
the  same  Fulwar  Skipwith  was  to  be  one;  and  that  this  court 
should  hold  its  first  session  the  very  next  day  at  eleven  o'clock, 
A.  M.,  precisely,  and  within  the  precincts  of  a  certain  well- 
known  log  tenement  situated  about  the  centre  of  the  town. 
In  this  court  was  to  be  concentrated  all  the  judicial  power  of 
the  infant  State;  and  the  two  remaining  judges  thereof  were 
likewise  specified  by  name  in  the  resolutions  which,  until 
further  arrangements  could  be  made,  were  to  be  recognized 
as  constituting  the  organic  law  of  Florida.  One  of  the  last 
mentioned  judges  was  a  wealthy  planter  in  the  vicinage,  of 
known  moral  worth  and  of  many  amiable  attributes  besides. 
The  third  was  a  noted  personage  then   dwelling  in   Baton 


PREFACE.  V 

Rouge,  once  commanding  a  small  vessel  in  the  American  ser- 
vice, who  was  reputed  to  have  in  that  capacity  evinced  no 
little  energy,  and  to  have  been  particularly  effective  in  all 
matters  of  marine  discipline  needful  to  be  enforced  by  the 
cat-of-nine-tails  and  other  kindred  instrumentalities, 

"Fulwar  Skipwith  was  a  man  of  no  little  note.  He  was  a 
native  of  Virginia,  and  was  quite  celebrated  for  his  high-bred 
courtesy,  his  general  literary  accomplishments,  and  his  splen- 
did style  of  living.  He  had  been  for  many  years  American 
Consul  in  France,  at  one  of  its  most  commercial  cities,  had 
performed  the  duties  attached  to  that  position  in  a  most  cred- 
itable manner,  and  had  returned  to  the  United  States  with  an 
elegant  and  accomplished  French  wife,  (whom  many  years 
ago  I  personally  knew,)  bringing  back  with  him  also  French 
politesse  and  French  notions  and  habits.  He  was  on  intimate 
terms  with  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  had  corresponded  with  him 
freely  upon  many  subjects,  subsequent  to  the  return  of  this 
illustrious  American  statesman  from  his  mission  to  the  Court 
of  Versailles. 

"Well,  at  the  hour  agreed  upon  for  the  assemblage  of  the 
judges  mentioned,  Fulwar  Skipwith  drove  into  Baton  Rouge 
from  his  palatial  residence  in  the  country,  in  a  splendid  coach 
and  four,  with  outriders  and  lackeys  to  match;  and,  on  reach- 
ing the  front  of  the  hall  of  justice,  found  it  surrounded  by  a 
multitude  of  his  enthusiastic  and  aroused  countrymen,  who 
received  -'him  with  loud  and ;  oft-reiterated  huzzas.  He  de- 
scended maje«ti^lly  from  his  carriage,  arrayed  in  costly  ha- 
biliments of  undoxibted  Parisian  cut,  and  strode  slowly,  and, 
it  must  be  confessed,  somewhat  ostentatiously,  towards  the 
open  door  of  the  court-house,  bowing,  as  he  moved  along,  to 
the  right  and  to  the  left,  alternately,  with  as  much  of  mingled 
grace  and  majesty  as  Louis  le  Grand  himself  could  have 
brought  into  requisition.  When  he  got  within  the  door,  he 
saw  in  the  back  part  of  this  most  uncourtly  edifice  three  plain 
straw-bottomed  chairs,  which  had  been  placed  upon  a  plat- 
form of  singularly  rude  construction,  raised  about  two  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  floor.  In  the  central  one  of  these  he 
bestowed  his  prepossessing  person,  and  awaited  silently  the 


Vi  PREFACE. 

coming  of  his  official  confreres.  The  first  of  these  that  ap- 
peared was  Mr.  Thomas.  Being  a  singularly  modest  and  re- 
tiring person,  this  gentleman  waited  at  the  door  for  a  moment, 
not  knowing  precisely  where  he  was  to  sit.  Upon  observing 
this,  Mr.  Skipwith  leaned  forward  and  beckoned  him  to  ad- 
vance, which  he  did,  and  presently  took  the  chair  on  the  right 
of  Mr.  Skipwith.  After  an  exchange  of  the  usual  salutations, 
the  latter  observed,  in  a  singularly  bland  and  winning  manner, 
that  he  presumed  that  little  could  be  done  by  the  court  for 
the  present  beyond  getting  organized  and  appointing  a  chief 
justice;  'to-morrow,'  said  he,  'we  can  proceed  to  administer 
the  justice  of  the  land,'  To  this  Mr.  Thomas  deferentially 
assented,  adding:  'Of  course,  Mr.  Skipwith,  you,  who  have 
had  so  much  and  such  varied  experience,  will  have  to  act  as 
our  chief  justice.'  'As  to  that,'  said  Mr.  Skipwith,  'neither 
seeking  nor  declining  such  a  signal  honor,  I  shall  be  content 
to  conform  to  the  wishes  of  my  respected  associates.'  A  noise 
was  presently  heard  outside  the  door.  The  third  judicial 
magnate  had  arrived.  •  He  had  walked  more  than  a  mile  from 
his  own  habitation  to  the  place  of  concourse.  The  new- 
comer was  dressed  out  in  a  full  suit  of  naval  uniform  rather 
the  worse  for  wear.  His  large,  capacious  head  was  sur- 
mounted with  a  cap  and  feathers,  a  good  deal  soiled,  but  of  a 
very  menacing  aspect.  A  rusty  sword  hung  at  his  side. 
The  weather  being  quite  warm,  the  perspiration  was  flowing 
freely  down  his  plump  and  rosy  cheeks,  which  he  was  dili- 
gently wiping  away  with  a  crimson  bandanna  handkerchief, 
His  hand  held  a  heavy  cane,  terminating  in  a  sharp  iron  spike, 
with  which  he  rapped  emphatically  upon  the  resounding 
plank  floor,  as  he  advanced  unceremoniously  and  sat  down 
heavily  in  the  vacant  chair  upon  the  platform.  So  soon  as 
he  had  cleverly  composed  himself  therein,  Mr.  Skipwith,  with 
somewhat  increased  courtesy,  made  the  same  suggestion  to 
which  Mr.  Thomas  had  already  responded  so  civilly.  Upon 
this,  up  rises  the  personage  just  described,  (but  whose  sur- 
name I  have  really  quite  forgotten,)  and  thus  vociferated,  in  a 
most  stentorian  voice,  accompanied  with  a  suitable  rapping. 
of  his  cane  upon  the  platform:  'Oh!  if  that  is  the  question  to 


PREFACE.  Vll 

be  decided,  that's easily  settled;  I'm  chief  justice  oi  this 

court,  by .*     To  this  Skipwith  mildly  answered  that  if  he 

claimed  the  position  referred  to,  he  should  himself  be  far  from 
holding  controversy  with  him  upon  that  point.  Then  the 
self-constituted  chief  justice,  seeing  the  sheriff  of  the  parish 
in  court,  addressed  him  in  the  same  grand  and  imposing 
manner,  asking  what  prisoners  he  had  in  jail,  and  what  were 
their  offences.  To  this  enquiry  the  sheriff  responded  that 
there  were  several  men  in  his  custody  charged  with  minor 
offences,  and  one  man  accused  of  murder,  but  against  whom 
no  indictment  had  been  yet  found.  'Bring  out  the  fellow 
charged  with  murder,'  cried  this  modern  Jeffries;  'I  wish  to 
try  my  hand  upon  him  immediately.  I  intend  to  show  all 
such  ruffians  that  no  man  is  hereafter  to  be  killed  in  this 
parish  except  with  the  consent  of  this  court  first  had  and  ob- 
tained.' He  then  resumed  his  seat.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
sheriff  reappeared,  driving  before  him  a  pale,  wretched  look- 
ing man,  whom  long  confinement  and  other  sufferings  had 
reduced  almost  to  a  skeleton,  and  deprived  well-nigh  alto- 
gether of  the  power  of  locomotion.  Upon  beholding  this 
ghastly  apparition,  up  rose  the  chief  justice  again,  and  staring 
at  the  prisoner  ferociously,  he  propounded  this  astounding 
interrogatory :  '  What  have  you  to  say  why  sentence  of  death 
should  not  be  pronounced  against  you  ?^  The  poor  creature, 
frightened  almost  to  death,  and  trembling  from  head  to  foot, 
feebly  answered:  *I  have  employed  this  lawyer  to  defend 
me,'  pointing  to  a  good-looking  and  neatly-dressed  young 
man  who  was  standing  near  him,  and  with  whom  I  became 
.acquainted  about  twenty  years  after,  as  Judge  Turner,  pre- 
siding with  much  dignity  in  the  Criminal  Court  at  New  Or- 
leans. This  reply  of  the  prisoner  greatly  increased  the  rage 
of  his  official  interlocutor.  Staring  angrily  at  the  mild  and 
amiable-looking  attorney,  he  broke  forth  in  a  voice  of  thun- 
der: '  Oh,  by !  none  of  your  quirks  or  quibbles  of  the  law!' 

Then  turning  to  the  prisoner,  and  stretching  forth  his  long 
and  muscular  right  hand,  with  the  fingers  thereof  closely  ad- 
hering to  each  other,  he  said:  'If  you  are  guilty,  which  I  have 
good  reason  to  believe,  I'll  be if  you  slip  through  these 


viil  PREFACE. 

fingers.'  It  was  with  great  difficulty  that  this  sort  of  sum- 
mary justice  was  stayed  in  its  execution  for  a  few  days,  during 
which  intelligence  fortunately  arrived  that  the  Spanish  Gov- 
ernment had  at  length  yielded  to  reason,  that  the  disputed 
territory  would  be  at  once  placed  under  the  protection  of  the 
immortal  stars  and  stripes,  and  that  the  constitution  and  laws 
of  the  Union  would  thereafter  guarantee  'life,  liberty,  and 
pursuit  of  happiness'  to  all  the  white  residents  of  Louisiana. 
The  'State  of  Florida,'  after  a  brief  but  romantic  existence, 
ceased  to  dominate  along  the  banks  of  the  Father  of  Waters, 
and  this  suddenly  improvised  government  disappeared  from 
the  view  of  men  forever,  'like  the  unsubstantial  fabric  of  a 
dream.'" 

Having  thus  explained  the  facts  referred  to  in  the  outset  of 
this  prefatory  address,  I  now  cheerfully  commit  this  book  to 
the  fate  which  may  be  in  reserve  for  it — neither  altogether 
careless  of  increased  fame,  nor  over-eager  of  commendations 
not  likely  to  be  bestowed  upon  a  performance  which,  I  am 
aware,  owes  whatever  of  merit  it  may  have  to  a  memory 
somewhat  more  than  ordinarily  retentive  of  the  passing  oc- 
currences of  life. 

H.  S.  FOOTE. 
January  29,  1876. 


THE 


BENCH  AND  BAR 


OP  THE 


SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Why  this  Work  came  to  be  Written. — General  Remarks. — The  Duties  and  Re- 
sponsibilities of  Attorneys  and  Judges. — De  Tocqueville  on  the  Bar  of  the  United 
States  upon  the  Occasion  of  his  Visit  to  this  Country. — Mr.  Burke's  Reference  to  the 
Lawyers  in  the  American  Congress  of  1776. — Migration  of  the  Author  to  the  State  of 
Alabama  in  1825. — Visit  to  Huntsville. — Lawyers  then  Practicing  there. — Author  F. 
Hopkins.— Clement  C.  Clay. — William  Kelley. — James  G.  Birney. — John  McKinley^^ 
— Harry  L  Thornton. — James  McClung. — Caswell  R.  Clifton. 

The  writer  of  the  following  pages  sets  up  no  claim  to  ab- 
solute originality,  either  in  thought  or  expression,  in  the  few 
general  reflections  which  he  is  about  to  communicate.  He 
has  long  felt  that  there  is  nothing  which  can  be  said  to  im- 
part true  dignity  to  man  as  a  rational  and  sentient  being,  save 
the  performance  of  acts  of  illustrious  virtue  and  the  inculca- 
tion of  those  lessons  of  practical  wisdom  which  the  accumu- 
lated experience  of  ages  has  supplied.  The  lustre  of  gold  is 
dazzling  to  the  vulgar  eye,  and  luxurious  pleasures  are  at- 
tractive to  coarse  and  grovelling  sensualism;  but  there  is 
naught  in  these  which  can  adequately  respond  to  the  aspira- 
tions of  a  cultured  intellect  and  an  uncorrupted  soul.  But  we 
all  know  that  the  shortness  of  human  life,  and  the  feebleness 
of  human  memory  are  such,  that  the  best  and  noblest  acts  of 
earthly  wisdom  or  virtue,  and  all  the  advances  which  we  are 
capable  of  making,  during  our  present  state  of  existence,  in 
knowledge  and  refinement,  would  fail  alike  of  present  recog- 
nition— except  in  an  exceedingly  limited  circle — and  of  be- 


2       BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

coming  known  to  future  generations,  were  no  special  means 
put  in  use  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  them  to  the  notice  of  the 
world  in  general,  and  perpetuating  them  in  the  recollection  of 
posterity.  Though  not  much  given  to  fits  of  solitary  musing, 
it  did  so  happen  that  I  chanced  to  be  meditating  one  morn- 
ing in  my  room,  at  the  great  and  growing  Metropolis  of  the 
Republic,  upon  topics  such  as  these,  when  a  letter  was  handed 
to  me,  referred  to  already  in  the  preface  to  this  volume, 
which  caused  me  to  write  "  something  upon  the  Bench  and 
Bar  of  the  Southern  and  Southwestern  States  "  for  insertion 
in  the  Southern  Law  Review,  which,  with  certain  other 
writings  on  the  same  subject  appended  thereto,  is  now  pre- 
sented anew  for  the  consideration  of  such  as  shall  be  at  all 
curious  as  to  matters  of  this  kind. 

This  is  indeed  a  most  suggestive  subject,  and  would  well 
admit  of  being  discussed  in  several  different  modes,  neither  of 
which  would  perhaps  be  altogether  devoid  of  entertainment 
or  of  instruction.  It  would  be  gratifying  to  me  to  find  out 
that  I  had  been  at  least  so  far  successful  in  this  hasty  and  im- 
perfect essay,  as  to  attract  attention  to  the  importance  of  col- 
lecting and  preserving  in  some  mode  the  rich  material  yet  ex- 
isting for  the  future  composition,  by  some  competent  and 
judicious  writer,  of  the  history  of  the  eminent  jurists  and  ad- 
vocates, who,  in  former  days,  delighted  and  edified  the  men 
of  their  own  generation,  either  by  the  spoken  eloquence  of 
the  forum,  or  by  the  more  grave  and  authoritative  exposition 
of  those  principles  of  law  and  order  which  lie  at  the  very 
foundation  of  all  enlightened  and  prosperous  commonwealths. 

It  has  long  been  asserted  by  men  whose  words  are  entitled 
to  much  respect,  that  in  all  communities  enjoying  free  institu- 
tions, and  especially  in  such  of  them  as  have  become  remark- 
able for  commericial  growth  and  consequence,;/////!^ and  money, 
that  is  to  say,  cultured  intellect  and  accumulated  wealth,  are 
unequalled  elements  of  power,  and  are  capable,  when  thrown 
into  combination,  of  wielding  an  almost  irresistible  influence 
over  the  concerns  of  the  whole  body  politic.  Experience  has 
more  than  once  most  signally  demonstrated  that  when  the 
possessors  of  actual  capital,  in  the  various  forms  which  it  is 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.  3 

capable  of  assuming,  become  in  any  way  very  closely  affili- 
ated with  those  classes  of  population  whose  native  intellectual 
energies  have  been  expanded  and  invigorated  by  scientific  cul- 
ture, these  eventually  become,  for  many  purposes,  a  single 
class  or  association,  more  'or  less  organized  for  action,  and 
are  sometimes  seen  to  gain  an  ascendancy  only  to  be  counter- 
vailed by  a  resort  to  something  like  revolutionary  expedients, 
rarely  less  mischievous  in  their  effects  than  the  evils  sought  to 
be  removed  by  their  instrumentality.  In  this  view  of  the  sub- 
ject it  would  seem  impossible  to  over-estimate  the  importance 
of  preserving  in  the  bosom  of  the  dominant  classes  referred 
to,  all  the  higher  social  virtues  in  their  fullest  vigor,  in  order 
that  the  power  which  they  are  capable  of  bringing  into  exer- 
cise may  not  be  so  applied  as  either  to  engender  wide-spread 
social  demoralization  or  bring  about  the  destruction  of  civil 
liberty  itself 

When  the  celebrated  French  writer,  DeTocqueville,  visited 
this  country,  some  years  since,  he  took  occasion  in  the  justly 
celebrated  work  which  he  then  published  upon  Democracy  in 
America,  to  assert,  as  the  result  of  his  own  personal  observation, 
that  in  all  our  great  commercial  cities,  the  merchants  or  men 
( of  trade,  and  the  lawyers,  constituted  what  he  deemed  a  verit- 
lable  aristocracy.  This  was,  perhaps,  a  somewhat  overstrained 
declaration,  but  has,  nevertheless,  this  foundation,  that  these 
two  singularly  alert  and  vigilant  classes  of  our  people  are 
often  found  in  such  close  association  as  to  give  them  the  ap- 
pearance of  acting  with  tmited  counsels,  influenced,  as  in  such 
cases  they  seem  to  be,  by  the  same  motives  of  action,  following 
the  same  schemes  of  speculative  emolument,  and,  perhaps  nat- 
urally enough,  seeking  to  mould  the  general  legislation  of  the 
country  in  such  forms  as  to  give  undue  protection  and  further- 
ance to  particular  class-interests,  at  the  expense  of  the  gen- 
eral welfare,  and  to  the  deep  and  irreparable  detriment  of 
other  portions  of  the  community  of  a  more  sluggish  and 
inactive  character.  It  may  be  safely  asserted  that  at  least 
nine-tenths  of  all  the  laws  from  time  to  time  enacted,  owe  their 
origin,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  associated  influence  of  the 
two  classes  under  consideration.     The  administration  of  law 


4        BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

in  our  courts  of  justice,  which  in  many  instances  is  really 
equivalent  in  practice  to  the  exercise  of  the  law-making  power 
itself,  is,  naturally  enough,  devolved  almost  exclusively  upon 
those  who  chance  to  have  made  our  system  of  jurisprudence  a 
subject  of  special  study.  Those  who  know  precisely  what 
laws  are  already  in  existence,  and  who  are  familiar  with  the 
various,  and  often  directly  conflicting  interpretations  to  which 
they  have  been  subjected,  are,  reasonably  enough,  presumed 
to  be  able  to  decide  what  new  laws  are  at  any  moment  neces- 
sary, or  what  modification  of  existing  statutes  experience  and 
the  progress  of  society  shall  have  rendered  expedient.  The 
commercial  or  moneyed  class  has  never  yet  failed  to  make  its 
wishes,  as  to  additional  legislation,  known  to  the  law-making 
department,  and  has  seldom  failed  to  find  in  our  legislative  as- 
semblies, both  state  and  national,  ready  and  skillful  agents  to 
facilitate  the  adoption  of  the  amendments  desired. 

It  is  often  justly  mentioned  as  a  circumstance  highly  hon- 
orable to  the  legal  profession,  that  in  almost  all  ages  and 
countries,  eminent  jurists  have  been  found  who  proved  them- 
selves to  be  just  and  patriotic  men,  and  firm  protectors  of  lib- 
erty. Mr.  Burke  is  known  to  have  remarked,  on  a  paiticu- 
Jarly  grave  and  interesting  occasion,  in  the  British  Parliament, 
when  our  struggle  for  national  independence  was  in  progress, 
upon  the  fact  that  both  in  the  colonial  legislatures  of  that  pe- 
riod, and  in  the  first  Congress  of  the  Union  which  ever  sat,  a 
much  larger  proportion  of  lawyers  were  occupants  of  seats  in 
those  bodies  than  had  been  elsewhere  known,  and  he  attests 
in  very  emphatic  language  the  learning  and  ability  of  the 
American  lawyers  of  that  time,  their  sterling  patriotism,  and 
their  skill  in  drafting  the  great  state  papers  which  were  then 
promulged,  and  which  yet  command  the  general  admiration 
of  refined  and  cultivated  minds  in  all  civjlized  countries. 

With  the  members  of  my  own  profession,  as  a  class,  I  have 
long  had  much  familiarity  in  some  nine  or  ten  states  of  the 
Union,  and  I  take  pleasure  in  attesting  that  I  have  derived 
from  my  intercourse  with  them,  much,  both  of  gratification  and 
instruction.  Were  I  to  indulge  in  indiscriminate  commenda- 
tion of  all  those  whom  it  has  been  my  fortune  to  meet  in  the 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.         5 

contests  of  the  forum,  or  the  incidents  of  whose  professional 
career  have  been  brought  to  my  notice,  I  should  greatly- 
wrong  my  own  self-repsect  and  do  egregious  injustice  to  the 
public  at  large ;  but  I  am  certain  that  I  do  not  go  too  far  in 
declaring  that  in  the  various  states  which  I  have  from  time  to 
time  visited,  in  the  progress  of  a  now  somewhat  protracted 
professional  career,  I  have  found  my  brethren  of  the  bar,  with 
a  few  exceptions,  intelligent,  astute,  laborious,  upright  and 
manly  in  their  conduct,  cherishing  a  high  and  delicate  sense 
of  individual  honor,  and  displaying,  on  all  proper  occasions, 
a  proper  regard  for  the  dignity  of  their  own  calling,  as  well  as 
a  profound  respect  for  the  example  and  counsels  of  those 
illustrious  sages  who  have  earned  undying  renown  in  the 
judicial  annals  of  our  own  country  and  of  England. 

It  has  now  been  a  little  more  than  fifty  years  since  I  mi- 
grated from  my  own  native  state,  and  entered  for  the  first  time 
a  court-house  in  that  region  where  my  subsequent  life  has 
been  chiefly  spent — a  region  then,  in  all  respects  so  eminently 
prosperous  and  happy,  and  now,  alas !  so  wretched  and  forlorn. 
The  court-house  to  which  I  have  just  referred  was  situated  in 
the  town  of  Huntsville,  and  in  the  state  of  Alabama.  An  in- 
teresting ca.se  was  under  trial.  An  upright  and  enlightened 
judge  was  presiding,  the  bar  was  filled  with  learned  and  well- 
dressed  attorneys,  and  an  immense  assemblage  of  citizens 
was  in  attendance.  Arthur  F.  Hopkins  was  addressing  a  jury 
of  singularly  good-looking  men,  and  I  soon  became  deeply 
interested  in  the  speech  which  he  was  most  impressively 
enunciating.  I  had  never  before  seen  him,  but  had  often  heard 
him  spoken  of  in  terms  of  marked  respect  and  commendation. 
There  were  opposed  to  him  several  lawyers  of  standing,  who 
afterwards  attained  a  most  extended  and  enviable  reputation, 
both  as  jurists  and  statesmen.  Among  these  was  Clement  C. 
Clay,  who  was  afterwards  a  worthy  member  of  the  national 
senate,  and  whose  son  of  the  same  name,  after  a  long  course 
of  trials  and  sufferings,  which  I  rejoice  to  know  he  has  en- 
countered with  singular  dignity  and  composure,  yet  survives. 
I  do  not  remember  often  to  have  enjoyed  a  higher  intellectual 
treat  than  the  trial  of  the  case  referred  to  afforded  me.    Judge 


6  BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

Hopkins,  afterwards  so  distinguished  as  a  member  of  the 
supreme  bench  of  his  adopted  state,  was  then  just  in  his 
prime.  He  was  of  a  most  impressive  and  winning  aspect ; 
perfectly  dignified  and  self-possessed,  though  full  of  earnestness 
and  energy.  He  possessed  a  most  easy  and  graceful  delivery ; 
exhibited  remarkable  powers  of  argument,  and  was,  upon  the 
whole,  one  of  the  most  polite,  affable  and  gentlemanly  persons 
that  ever  left  the  venerated  state  of  Virginia  to  seek  fortune 
and  fame  in  the  far  southwest.  Though  he  was  then  only 
about  thirty-five  years  old,  he  was  universally  admitted  to 
have  made  himself  a  complete  master  of  his  profession.  He 
was  reported  to  have  been  for  some  years  a  most  diligent  and 
assiduous  student  of  the  law,  and  to  have  possessed  himself 
of  much  and  various  learning  in  other  departments  of  science. 
In  after  years  I  enjoyed  his  personal  intimacy  and  friendship, 
and  I  found  him  every  day  and  hour  growing  in  my  affection 
and  esteem.  He  died  a  few  years  since  universally  respected 
and  lamented  by  his  numerous  friends  and  admirers.  Judge 
Clay,  whom  I  have  mentioned  as  also  speaking  on  this  occa- 
sion, was  a  man  of  highly  prepossessing  appearance.  He  had 
also  been  born  on  the  soil  of  Virginia,  but  had  been  reared  to 
manhood  in  East  Tennessee.  He  was  about  six  feet  in  height, 
well-shaped,  and  easy  in  his  movements,  bland  and  courteous 
in  his  manners,  and  of  a  personal  courage  never  called  in 
question.  He  had  rather  a  redundant  suit  of  jet-black  hair ; 
his  eyes  were  dark  and  lustrous,  and  they  positively  blazed  in 
their  sockets  when  he  was  under  special  excitement.  I  heard 
both  these  gentlemen  often  afterwards,  and  never  had  any 
reason  to  modify  my  first  favorable  impressions  in  regard  to 
them. 

I  have  stated  that  at  the  time  to  which  I  have  referred  the  bar 
of  Huntsville  was  crowded  with  attorneys,  I  have  not  space  at 
this  time  for  the  mention  of  many  of  them,  and  of  those  whom 
I  am  about  to  mention  it  is  not  convenient  at  present  to  speak 
in  such  terms  as  their  merits  would  well  justify.  Among  these 
was  Judge  William  Kelley,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  a  man  of 
most  brilliant  intellect,  of  great  originality,  full  of  learning  of 
almost  every  kind,  of  surpassing  ingenuity  and  logical  dexter» 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.  y 

ity,  copious  in  illustration,  almost  to  profuseness;  at  times 
most  touchingly  eloquent,  and  with  a  rich  and  fervid  imagina- 
tion ;  possessing  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  facetiousness  ;  occa- 
casionally  bitterly  sarcastic ;  but  sometimes  overflowing  with 
harmless  but  irresistible  railleiy.  He  occupied  a  seat  in  the 
United  States  Senate  in  the  winter  of  1824-5,  where  I  first  saw 
him;  was  an  ardent  devotee  of  General  Jackson,  and  both  a 
hater  and  reviler  of  his  illustrious  antagonist,  Mr.  Clay. 

The  famous  Jas.  G.  Birney  was  also  at  the  time  men- 
tioned a  member  of  the  Huntsville  bar,  where  he  was  exceed- 
ingly beloved  and  respected.  When  he  afterwards  became  the 
zealous  advocate  of  African  Emancipation,  though  his  friends 
in  Alabama  could  not  then  approve  this  part  of  his  public  ca- 
reer, he  still  retained  much  of  their  respect  and  kindness,  and 
his  integrity  as  a  man  was  never  called  in  question  by  them, 
nor  were  his  learning  and  eloquence  as  a  forensic  advocate. 
Mr.  Birney  was  a  singularly  fluent  and  polished  speaker,  and 
was  known  to  have  given  much  more  attention  to  the  niceties 
of  orthoepy  than  was  then  customary  among  the  lawyers  of 
this  newly-settled  region. 

John  McKinley,  I  also  now  first  met.  Born,  as  I  have  heard 
him  say,  in  the  county  of  Culpepper,  and  state  of  Virginia, 
he  had  commenced  his  professional  career  in  Kentucky,  whence 
he  migrated  to  Alabama,  and  soon  gained  a  high  rank  at  the 
bar  of  Huntsville.  He  was  for  some  years  in  Congress,  after 
my  acquaintance  with  him  was  formed,  and  was  appointed  by 
General  Jackson  to  a  seat  upon  the  Supreme  Bench  of  the 
Union.  He  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  great  morality  and  up- 
rightness, and  deficient  neither  in  legal  learning  nor  in  ability 
in  the  argument  of  causes,  both  before  courts  and  juries. 
There  was  much  in  his  busy  and  varied  career  to  reward  the 
labors  of  some  impartial  and  competent  biographer. 

Harry  I.  Thornton  was  also  a  member  of  the  Huntsville 
bar  in  1825.  Born  also  in  Virginia,.and  reared  in  Kentucky,  he 
came  to  Alabama  about  fifty-five  years  ago.  He  was  the  grand- 
son of  the  celebrated  Harry  Innes,  of  whom  Mr.  Wirt 
makes  such  glowing  mention  in  his  Life  of  Patrick  Henry; 
had  married,  before  he  left  Kentucky,  the  accomplished  and 


8  BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

amiable  sister  of  John  J.  Crittenden,  who,  I  am  glad  to 
know,  still  lives,  surrounded  by  all  that  can  render  life  desir- 
able, save  the  presence  and  society  of  her  tenderly  lamented 
husband.  Harry  I,  Thornton,  after  acquiring  much  reputa- 
tion at  the  bar,  in  legislative  halls,  and  upon  the  bench  of  the 
supreme  court  of  his  adopted  state,  was  selected  by  President 
Fillmore,  in  1850,  as  one  of  the  three  land  commissioners  sent 
to  California.  There  he  gained  much  additional  honor,  and 
is  yet  remembered  by  all  who  then  enjoyed  his  society,  with 
unmixed  affection  and  reverence.  His  eloquence  in  conversa- 
tion was  such  as  I  have  seldom  known  equalled,  and  his 
fund  of  choice  and  classic  anecdote  seemed  altogether  inex- 
haustible. A  truer,  braver,  and  more  magnanimous  gentle- 
man has  never  lived. 

In  Huntsville,  too,  at  the  time  mentioned,  I  first  met  James 
McClung,  a  leading  member  of  the  Alabama  bar  for  many 
years  ;  a  graceful  and  effective  speaker,  born  to  be  loved  by  all 
mankind,  and  one  of  the  noblest  specimens  of  genuine  South- 
ern chivalry  that  I  have  ever  known.  He  was  brave  almost 
to  a  fault,  but  possessed  as  warm  and  generous  sensibilities  as 
ever  glowed  in  the  heart  of  purest  and  most  exalted  manhood. 
Colonel  McClung  was  born  in  east  Tennessee,  where  many  of 
his  relations  and  early  friends  yet  have  him  in  respectful  and 
tender  remembrance.  Some  of  the  incidents  of  his  stormy 
and  eventful  life  would  prove  as  attractive  in  narrative  as  the 
most  thrilling  scenes  depicted  by  a  Scott,  a  Bulwer  or  a 
Dickens. 

I  should  not  omit  to  state  here  that  in  Huntsville,  at  this 
time,  I  first  encountered  a  gentleman  of  the  rarest  gifts  and 
graces,  and  with  whom  I  afterwards  formed  a  close  friendship 
in  the  state  of  Mississippi,  where,  for  many  years  he  practised 
law  with  great  distinction,  and  where  he  was  universally  loved 
and  respected.  I  allude  to  Caswell  R.  Clifton,  whose  whole 
life  was  marked  with  displays  of  domestic  and  social  virtue, 
who  held  various  public  offices  of  much  responsibility,  and 
was  universally  admitted  to  have  done  honor  to  them  all. 

Many  other  loved  and  venerated  names  recur  to  "  my 
pained  and   softened  memory,"  in  looking  back  to  the  occa- 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.  9 

sion  of  my  first  visit  to  Huntsville,  upon  which,  were  it  allowed 
me,  I  should  gladly  dilate.  But  I  must  hasten  to  conclude  this 
article,  which  I  fear  will  seem  to  some  already  too  long,  by 
some  account  of  a  scene  of  unusual  interest  which  I  will  now 
briefly  depicture. 

General  Andrew  Jackson,  and  Colonel  James  Jackson,  of 
Lauderdale  county,  in  the  state  of  Alabama,  were  at  one  time 
intimate  friends.  They  were  both  men  of  eminent  worth,  of 
most  elevated  social  standing,  and  of  indomitable  strength  of 
will.  They  became  bitter  enemies,  both  political  and  personal. 
I  have  heard  the  causes  of  their  lamentable  estrangement  re- 
cited, but  do  not  care  to  specify  them  here.  Colonel  John 
Donelson,  a  nephew  of  the  venerated  wife  of  General  Jackson, 
resided  in  north  Alabama,  not  far  from  the  residence  of  James 
Jackson.  He  was  a  very  wealthy  man.  His  personal  integ- 
rity was  unquestioned ;  his  personal  courage  had  well-nigh 
passed  into  a  proverb.  It  so  happened  that  a  Mr.  Smith,  also 
a  resident  of  this  once  famous  vicinage,  had  married  a  niece 
•of  James  Jackson.  A  bitter  personal  feud  sprang  up  between 
Donelson  and  Smith  which  soon  involved  their  numerous 
friends,  and  in  the  progress  of  which  much  crimination  and 
recrimination  was  indulged.  At  last  aspersive  words  of  a 
highly  insulting  character  were  publicly  used  by  Donelson, 
•out  of  which  originated  an  action  for  slander.  Donelson, 
when  sued,  so  far  from  denying  the  employment  of  the  ofifen- 
:sive  words  imputed  to  him,  Jus fi^ed  the  utterance  of  them  and 
prepared  to  make  them  good  by  proof.  James  Jackson  was, 
perhaps,  the  wealthiest  man  at  this  time  in  the  county  where 
he  lived.  He  was  in  the  highest  degree  popular  and  influen- 
tial. I  had  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  him,  and  esteemed 
him  most  highly.  He  was  an  Irish  immigrant  to  this  cduntry, 
and  had  brought  with  him  from  his  native  land  much  money 
and  a  numerous  and  accomplished  family  connection.  He  had 
•come  across  the  ocean  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century 
because  of  the  serious  civil  disturbances  then  prevailing  there. 
It  was  soon  ascertained  that  the  whole  population  of  Lauder- 
•dale  had  become  so  embroiled  by  this  unhappy  contest,  that 
it  would  be  impossible  to  try  the  case  there,  and  a  cJiange  of 


lO        BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

venue  was  had.  This  proceeding  brought  the  case  and  parties 
across  the  river  to  the  county  of  Franklin,  where  I  resided  at 
the  time.  The  circuit  court  was  then  held  in  the  old  village 
of  Russelville,  about  eighteen  miles  from  the  Tennesse  river. 
The  judge  who  was  to  preside  at  the  trial  was  a  gentleman  of 
great  integrity  and  reputation,  of  undoubted  learning,  and  was 
sternly  resolved  to  do  his  duty  as  a  public  officer,  under  the 
trying  circumstances  which  surrounded  him.  The  day  of 
trial  came,  and  the  contending  litigants  came  also,  attended  by 
their  numerous  friends  and  adherents.  The  witnesses  of  Don- 
elson  were  so  numerous  that,  for  want  of  tavern  accommoda- 
tion, they  had  to  encamp  in  the  fields  adjoining  the  village. 
There  was  a  grand  array  of  attorneys  on  both  sides,  each  of 
the  parties  contestant  having  employed  four  or  five.  Judge 
Kelley  was  the  leading  counsel  for  the  (;lefence,  and  was  ex- 
pected to  make  the  concluding  speech  in  support  of  the  plea 
oi  justification.  I  had  a  good  opportunity  of  seeing  and  hear- 
ing all  that  occurred,  having  been  specially  employed  to  take 
down  the  evidence,  for  which  I  gratefully  remember  to  have 
received  what  I  regarded  at  the  time  as  quite  a  remunera- 
tive fee. 

The  trial  occupied  several  days.  The  lawyers  on  both  sides 
exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost,  and  exhibited  ability  and 
zeal  which  I  have  never  seen  surpassed.  It  had  not  then  be- 
come fashionable  to  occupy  seven  or  eight  weeks  in  the  trial 
of  a  single  case,  and  the  arts  of  procrastination,  now  so  freely 
allowed  in  certain  localities,  for  the  spread  of  social  excite- 
ment and  the  diffusion  of  forensic  fame,  would  have  been  then 
nowhere  tolerated.  More  than  a  hundred  witnesses  were  ex- 
amined ;  there  was  much  conflicting  evidence ;  many  different 
and  interesting  points  of  law  were  discussed  and  decided,  and 
the  trial  was  brought  to  an  end  before  the  close  of  a  week. 
The  speech  of  Judge  Hopkins  was  most  masterly.  I  do  not 
not  know  that  I  have  heard  it  since  surpassed.  He  analyzed 
the  testimony  fully;  he  explained  the  legal  principles  involved 
with  a  power  and  earnestness  which  filled  all  present  with  ad- 
miration; his  peroration  was  marked  with  the  most  soul-mov- 
ing and  overwhelming  eloquence.  The  court  having  adjourned 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.  j  f 

for  dinner  immediately  after  Judge  Hopkins  had  concluded,  I 
met  Judge  Kelly  at  the  door  of  the  court-house  as  he  was 
passing  through  it,  and  enquired  of  him  what  he  thought  of 
the  effort  he  had  just  witnessed.  He  responded,  with  tears 
flowing  down  his  cheeks:  "I  shall  leave  the  state  for  New 
Orleans  in  a  few  days,  but  I  leave  no  man  behind  me  whose 
abilities  I  respect  as  much  as  I  do  those  of  Arthur  F.  Hopkins. 
He  is  the  biggest  handful  I  ever  grasped !  "  After  our  return 
from  dinner.  Judge  Kelly  commenced  his  response.  I  doubt 
exceedingly  whether  a  more  telling  and  effective  forensic 
speech  has  ever  been  made  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic  since 
the  days  of  Erskine  and  Curran.  He  was  logical,  he  was  face- 
tious, he  was  pathetic,  be  was  denunciator)^  by  turns ;  and 
he  seemed  to  wield  the  jury  as  a  boy  would  do  his  playthings. 
The  presidential  contest  between  Jackson  and  Adams  had 
just  occurred,  and  the  whole  public  mind  of  Alabama  had 
been  inflamed  almost  to  madness  by  the  fierce  discussions  of 
the  period.  The  members  of  the  jury  were  all  Jackson  men. 
Right  well  did  Juge  Kelly  know  this  important  fact,  and  right 
adroitly  did  he  take  advantage  of  it.  He  alluded  more  than, 
once  to  the  fact  that  Donelson  was  the  nephew  of  the  hero  of 
New  Orleans,  and  that  his  antagonist  was  the  nephew,  by  mar- 
riage, of  one  of  his  bitterest  foes.  As  he  thundered  forth  his- 
furious  invective,  the  faces  of  the  jury  were  ablaze  witn  partzan 
excitement  and  indignation.  They  retired,  under  the  charge  of 
the  court  to  the  room  assigned  them  for  conference;  but  no 
conference  there  took  place.  Their  minds  were  already  made 
up.  A  loud  "  hurrah  for  Jackson  "  was  heard  as  they  left  the 
court  room,  and  a  few  minutes  thereafter,  they  returned  with 
a  verdict  for  the  defendant ;  which  verdict  the  Judge,  though 
himself  an  ardent  Jackson  man,  set  aside  at  once  without  wait- 
ing for  a  motion  to  be  made  for  that  purpose. 


CHAPTER  II. 

General  Remarks. — Duties  and  Responsibilities  of  Lawyers. — Dr.  Draper's  Tri- 
l)ute  to  the  Profession. — Lord  Brougham's  View  of  Professional  Fidelity. — Whole- 
some Influence  Exercised  by  Lawyers  as  a  Class. — Visit  of  Author  to  Natchez  in 
.  1830. — Supreme  Court  of  Mississippi  — Judges  Turner,  Child,  Nicholson,  Black,  and 
Cage. — Duels  between  Child  and  Joor,  Ben.  Leigh  and  Davis. — Thomas  B  Reed  — 
William  C.  Griffith.— Robert  H.  Adams.— Spence  M.  Grayson.— Robert  H.  Buck- 
■ner. — Edward  C.  Wilkinson. — Vicksburg  Bar  in  1831. — S.  S.  Prentiss  and  others. — 
•Joseph  Holt. — Danial  Mayes. 

It  is  possible  that  there  may  be  some  by  whom  the  propriety 
-may  be  a  little  questioned  of  an  attempt  being  thus  made, 
however  modestly,  to  preserve  the  scattered  and  fast  disap- 
pearing memorials  of  a  class  of  individuals  concerning  whose 
merits  and  achievements  the  opinions  of  mankind,  in  different 
•countries  and  ages,  have  not  been  altogether  identical.  To 
the  more  liberal-minded  the  facts  presently  to  be  adverted  to 
may  perchance  supply  some  excuse  for  an  undertaking  which 
might  otherwise  be  recognized  as  alike  superfluous  and  obtru- 
sive. 

In  the  more  prosperous  and  enlightened  communities  which 
have  heretofore  existed,  lawyers,  whether  performing  the  or- 
dinary duties  of  their  calling,  or  elevated  to  positions  from 
which  it  is  expected  that  they  will  authoritatively  enunciate 
the  principles  of  jurisprudential  science,  and  take  adequate 
measures  also  for  the  maintenance  and  enforcement  of  those 
principles,  have  been,  from  time  immemorial,  recognized  in 
many  important  respects,  as  indispensable  civil  functionaries, 
and  as  such,  invested  with  certain  peculiar  powers  and  privil- 
eges, and  also  held  amenable  to  a  number  of  grave  and  delicate 
responsibilities,  from  which  other  members  of  the  body-politic 
are  altogether  exempt.  The  customary  presence  in  courts  of 
justice  of  attorneys  and  counselors,  and  their  habitual  parti- 
cipancy  in  the  most  solemn  and  interesting  judicial  proceed- 
ings, have  naturally  caused  them  to  be  considered  a  constitu- 
ent part  of  the  court  itself,  or  at  least  as  an  essential  appur-  . 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 


13- 


tenant  thereto.  Nor  is  this  to  be  at  all  wondered  at,  since 
many  of  the  functions  which  they  are  expected  to  take  upon, 
themselves,  and  for  the  failure  to  dischar<^e  which  with  fidelity 
and  efficiency  they  are  subject  to  be  held  to  account,  are  of  a 
nature  alike  needful  to  the  convenient  and  satisfactory  dispensa- 
tion of  equity  between  man  and  man,  the  due  enforcement  of 
the  law  of  the  land,  and  the  upholding  of  the  governmental 
authority  itself  It  can  not  well  be  denied  that  the  institution 
of  a  wise  and  practicable  system  of  judicature  is  one  of  the 
distinguishing  characteristics  of  what  is  called  civilization — 
that  highest  form  of  social  organization — which  system^ 
though,  to  be  of  any  appreciable  value,  must,  of  necessity,  be 
fairly  and  impartially  administered.  Otherwise,  indeed,  the 
evils  of  disorder  and  anarchical  lawlessness — not  seldom  re- 
sulting in  mob  despotism — that  fearful  omen  of  returning  bar- 
barism and  badge  of  municipal  dishonor,  must  inevitably  en~ 
sue.  But  it  would  be  in  the  highest  degree  absurd  to  expect 
laws,  however  artistically  framed  they  may  be,  to  prove  whole- 
somely operative  unless  they  shall  become  intelligible  in  some 
way,  with  a  view  to  their  enforcement  among  those  for  whose 
benefit  they  are  framed.  That  is  to  say,  they  must  be  com- 
pletely understood  by  the  mass  of  those  subject  to  their 
authority,  or  by  some  special  class  of  persons  capable  of  sup- 
plying a  reasonable  and  adequate  explication  of  them,  Now^ 
it  is  exceedingly  plain  that  this  matter  is  one  to  which  the 
citizens  can  not  give  due  attention  by  reason  of  their  being; 
necessarily  otherwise  occupied.  Nor  should  the  fact  be  over- 
looked that  uniform  experience  has  shown — what  would  be  per- 
haps sufficiently  evident  in  itself  without  this  aid  from  ex- 
perience— that  legal  requisitions  of  almost  every  description 
are  seen  to  multiply  in  number,  and  to  take  upon  themselves 
also  an  increased  complexity  of  structure,  in  proportion  as 
society  advances  in  wealth  and  refinement ;  thus  rendering  the 
task  of  interpreting  them  more  and  more  difficult;  as  well  as 
the  skilful  ministration  of  remedial  expedients  needful  to  be 
resorted  to  for  the  speedy  and  effective  redress  of  violated 
rights,  or  for  vindicating  the  majesty  of  the  violated  law  by 
the  exemplary  punishment  of  flagrant  wrong-doers.     In  such 


14  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

•a  state  of  affairs  the  perpetual  presence  in  the  bosom  of  the 
community  of  a  class  of  individuals  whose  minds  have  been 
especially,  if  not  exclusively  given  to  the  study  of  law  as  a 
science,  as  well  as  to  all  the  technical  formalities  of  its  ad- 
ministration, seems  too  manifest  to  need  a  more  elaborate  ex- 
planation. It  is  in  this  view  of  the  subject  that  the  whole 
body  of  the  community  is  deeply  interested  in  all  things  ap- 
pertaining to  the  history  of  the  legal  profession,  in  the  advance 
of  those  belonging  to  it  in  intellectual  culture,  and  the  pre- 
servation among  them  of  the  purest  and  most  elevated  mo- 
rality. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary,  after  what  has  been  already  said,  to 
suggest  that  the  members  of  the  bar  in  a  free  country  like  our 
own,  have  it  in  their  power,  both  individually  and  collectively, 
to  render  great  and  peculiar  services  to  the  community  in 
which  they  have  been  given  a  commission  to  expound  the 
solemnly  enacted  laws  of  the  land,  and  to  take  upon  them- 
selves the  most  important  fiduciary  responsibilities.  It  is 
equally  true  that  the  chosen  profession  opens  to  them  oppor- 
tunities of  perpetrating  much  evil,  and  of  setting  a  bad  and 
deleterious  example  of  demoralizing  and  disgustful  iniquities 
before  the  eyes  of  their  own  and  of  future  generations.  That 
the  well-recognized  duties  of  their  vocation  expose  them  to 
special  and  almost  overwhelming  temptations  to  extreme  sel- 
fishness and  perfidy,  can  not  be  denied — which  temptations,  if 
unwisely  yielded  to,  may  bring  upon  them  irreparable  disgrace, 
but  which,  if  resisted  with  manly  firmness,  may  secure  to  them 
imperishable  honor,— there  are  few  who  do  not  understand. 

The  history  of  lawyers,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  has 
much  of  what  they  may  justly  feel  proud,  and  more,  also, 
than  it  is  pleasant  to  remember,  over  which  no  good  and 
upright  man  feels  otherwise  than  chagrined  and  horrified. 
Whilst  the  Somerses,  the  Hardwickes,  the  Holts,  and  the  Ers- 
kines  of  England ;  and  the  Marshalls,  the  Kents,  and  the 
Choates  of  our  own  favored  land,  have  reflected  a  glory  upon 
the  class  which  they  so  highly  adorned,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten 
that  such  monsters  as  Jeffreys,  and  Macclesfield,  and  others, 
whose  names  all  upright  attorneys  and  high-souled  men  are 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  15 

reluctant  even  to  pronounce,  Jiave  lived,  and  have  left  behind 
them  memorials  of  dishonor,  the  humiliating  mention  of  which 
can  never  cease  to  kindle  afresh  the  sentiments  of  lamentation 
and  contempt. 

It  must  be  obvious  to  all  but  those  whose  deplorable  ob- 
tuseness  of  intellect  no  reasoning  can  penetrate,  that  the  in- 
discriminate advocacy  of  right  and  wrong,  for  money,  or  for 
money  s  worth,  is  a  fearful  trial  for  the  soul  of  man  in  its  present 
feeble  and  degenerate  state,  and  that  members  of  the  bar  of 
no  little  respectability  in  certain  social  circles,  have  before  now 
been  known,  with  too  careless  a  scrutiny  of  facts,  to  make 
engagements  for  the  rendition  of  professional  service  to  indi- 
viduals, who,  on  fuller  investigation,  they  can  not  avoid  discov- 
ering to  have  been  guilty  of  abominable  knavery,  is  a  position 
not  to  be  denied ;  and  if  Lord  Brougham  be  correct  in  assert- 
ing that  no  discovery  of  corruption  or  turpitude  on  the  part 
of  his  once  recognized  client  can  justify  the  lawyer  in  ceas- 
ing to  represent  his  interests,  it  is  manifest  that  the  dignit)^  of 
a  useful  and  venerated  profession  may  be  occasionally  put  in 
jeopardy,  in  the  way  just  indicated,  by  men  who  would  be  as 
far  as  any  other  individual  that  can  be  mentioned,  from  delib- 
erately doing  aught  which  the  sternest  and  most  upright  mor- 
alist would  hesitate  to  sanction  and  defend. 

That,  upon  the  whole,  at  least  for  some  generations  past,  in 
all  countries  where  lawyers  are  known,  their  example  and  in- 
fluence as  a  class,  have  been,  in  general,  favorable  to  sound 
morals,  as  well  as  to  t,he  advance  of  civil  and  religious  free- 
dom. I  do  not  myself  at  all  doubt ;  ancl  I  have  little  fear  that 
a  majority  of  the  attorneys  in  these  United  States  will  ever  fail 
to  remember  that  the  world  has  a  right  to  look  to  them  con- 
fidently for  the  avoidance  of  all  those  wretched  arts  of 
chicane  and  knavery  which  some  whom  our  highest  courts 
are  sometimes  compelled  to  recognize  as  entitled  to  address 
them,  have  been  known  unscrupulously  to  put  in  exercise,  and 
unblushingly  to  defend.  Long  may  the  members  of  the  Amer- 
can  bar,  in  general,  and  the  members  of  the  bar  of  the  Southern 
and  Southwestern  states  in  particular,  bear  vividly  in  mind, 
that  by  them,  if  at  all,  are  the  hidden  villainies  of  the  world 


l6  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

to  be  brought  to  light  and  to  be  punished ;  profligacy,  how- 
ever plausible,  to  be  unmasked  and  brought  to  shame ; 
and  the  betrayers  of  the  cause  of  freedom  to  be  consigned  to 
undying  infamy.  Let  them  ever  recollect  that  it  is  their  high 
and  inestimable  privilege,  by  judicious  and  seasonable  counsel, 
to  rescue  their  clients  from  the  fangs  of  merciless  cupidity, 
and  from  unmerited  ruin ;  to  defend  their  characters  against 
unjust  reproach,  no  matter  how  potential  may  be  their  assail- 
ants, and  whether  the^e  assailants  shall  be  few  or  many ;  to 
rescue  their  lives,  it  may  be,  from  the  perils  in  which  calum- 
nious accusations  may  have  involved  them ; — that  on  the  bench, 
at  the  bar,  in  grave  deliberative  assemblies,  or  as  the  sworn 
official  advisers  of  government,  glorious  opportunities  are 
presented  to  them  of  earning  solid  and  enduring  fame ;  of 
proving  themselves  to  be  great  national  benefactors,  the  de- 
fenders and  upholders  of  such  civil  institutions  as  the  world 
has  never  seen  but  once ;  and  the  fearless  and  indefatigable 
champions  and  promoters  of  social  reform  and  progress. 

Before  these  general  remarks  are  brought  to  a  close,  I  must 
ask  permission  to  cite  a  short  and  gratifying  extract  from  the 
pages  of  one,  of  whose  profound  abilities  and  marvelous  scien- 
tific attainments  America  and  mankind  in  general  may  be 
justly  proud.  Dr.  Draper,  in  his  "  Intellectual  Development 
of  Europe,"  speaking  of  the  two  professions  of  law  and  med- 
icine, says:  "  It  is  to  the  honor  of  both  these  professions  that 
they  never  sought  a  perpetuity  of  power  by  schemes  of  vast 
organization;  never  attempted  to  delude  mankind  by  stupen- 
dous impostures;  never  compelled  them  to  desist  from  the  ex- 
pression of  their  thoughts,  and  even  from  thinking,  by  alliances 
with  civil  power.  Far  from  being  the  determined  antagonists  • 
of  human  knowledge,  they  uniformly  fostered  it,  and,  in  its 
trials,  defended  it.  The  lawyers  were  hated  because  they  re- 
placed supernatural  logic  by  philosophical  logic;  the  physic- 
ians, because  they  broke  down  the  profitable  but  mendacious 
system  of  miracle-cures  by  relics  and  at  shrines." 

But  it  is  time  that  I  should  proceed  to  the  immediate  task 
before  me.  Without  dilating  further,  for  the  present,  upon  the 
members  of  the  bar  flourishing  in  the  state  of  Alabama,  be- 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST,       1 7 

tween  the  years  1825  and  1830,  and  for  some  twenty  years 
thereafter  (some  of  whom  will  demand  more  or  less  notice 
hereafter),  I  must  ask  the  reader  to  descend,  in  imagination, 
with  me,  the  Mississippi  river,  in  the  month  of  December, 
1830,  for  the  pmrpose  of  surveying  the  condition  of  the  bench 
and  bar  there  at  that  period,  and  tracing  a  number  of  scenes 
which  afterwards  occurred  in  that  stirring  regfon,and  of  which 
I  was  myself  a  very  close  observer. 

I  journeyed,  during  the  year  and  month  just  named,  to  the 
city  of  Natchez,  then  a  place  of  much  commercial  importance, 
and  possessing  a  population  full  of  intelligence,  enterprise, 
and  refinement.  There  Burr  had  been  the  recipient  of  a  cor- 
dial and  splendid  hospitality,  on  his  first  descent  to  New  Or- 
leans, where  he  was  expecting,  in  concert  with  General 
Wilkinson  and  others,  to  mature  his  grand  scheme  for  organ- 
izing a  new  Anglo-American  empire  in  Mexico.  In  the  lit- 
tle village  of  Washington,  only  a  few  miles  from  Natchez, 
had  he  undergone  that  memorable  judicial  examination  which, 
despite  the  energetic  prosecution  of  the  afterwards  celebrated 
George  Poindexter,  speedily  resulted  in  his  honorable  acquit- 
tal. Here  sojourned,  for  some  years,  the  ill-fated  Blennerhas- 
set,  whose  paradisaical  residence  on  an  island  of  La  Belle 
Riviere,  was  on  the  occasion  of  the  trial  of  Burr  for  treason, 
afterwards  so  gorgeously  depictured  by  William  Wirt.  In 
Natchez  I  found  residing,  when  I  reached  there,  several  most 
accomplished  and  affluent  citizens  who  had  been  the  known 
associates  of  Aaron  Burr;  among  whom  were  the  financial 
magnates  of  that  period,  James  C.  Wilkins.  and  Stephen  A. 
Duncan.  The  very  hotel  at  which  I  was  entertained  in  1830, 
was  kept  by  a  Mr.  Parker,  who  was  also  one  of  the  "  Burr 
men,"  as  they  were  called,  and  from  whose  lips  I  heard  much 
of  the  famous  expedition,  in  which  he  was  not  at  sH  ashamed  to 
acknowledge  that  he  had  borne  part.  On  the  veiy  night  that 
I  reached  Natchez,  I  saw  the  son  of  Blennerhasset  lying  dead 
drunk  upon  the  pavement  in  front  of  the  Parker  hotel,  and 
who  (as  I  was  told)  having  been,  during  the  day  which  had  just 
closed,  refused  by  the  medical  board  of  the  state,  then  in  ses- 
sion, a  license  to  practice  the  curative  art,  had  solaced  his 


1 8  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

chagrin  by  huge  potations  of  alcoholic  fluid.     Sic  transit  gloria 
mimdi  !  ! 

The  supreme  court  of  the  state  was  sitting  when  I  reached 
Natchez,  and  many  attorneys  were  in  attendance  thereupon, 
some  of  whom  lived  in  remote  counties.  I  had  brought  with 
me  letters  of  introduction  to  several  prominent  members  of 
the  bar,  whose  civilities  to  me  were  of  a  far  more  marked  and 
cordial  character  than  I  had  even  anticipated.  The  supreme 
court  was  at  that  time  composed  of  five  judges;  whose  decis- 
ions, up  to  about  that  period,  had  been,  a  short  time  before, 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  diligent  and  accomplished  lawyer  for 
revision  and  publication.  These  decisions  will  be  found  em- 
bodied in  a  single  small  volume  known  as  Walker's  Reports, 
but  few  copies  of  which  are  now  extant,  the  work  itself  being 
mainly  of  value  because  of  Mr.  Walker's  copious  and  learned 
notes,  with  which  it  is  besprinkled.  The  names  of  the  supreme 
judges  were  as  follows  :  Turner,  Child,  Nicholson,  Black,  and 
Cage. 

Chief  Justice  Edward  Turner  was  a  man  of  uncommonly 
striking  appearance.  He  must  have  been  considerably  more 
than  six  feet  in  height,  slenderly  and  even  delicately  shaped, 
with  a  bright  and  genial  countenance,  and  of  exceedingly  kind 
and  conciliatory  manners.  He  was  born  in  the  old  county 
of  Fairfax,  in  the  state  of  Virginia,  and,  as  I  have  heard  from 
his  own  lips  (and  which  I  remember  to  have  once  seen  men- 
tioned in  a  printed  circular  over  his  name),  was  grandson  to 
the  Mr.  Payne  whom  Weems,  in  his  Life  of  Washington, 
reports  to  have  once  had  a  serious  collision  with  the  Father 
of  his  Country  at  Fairfax  Court  House,  when  Washington  was 
there  engaged  in  the  raising  of  military  recruits  for  the  ill-fated 
Braddock  campaign.  This  historic  incident  Mr.  Weems  seems 
to  have  regarded  as  worthy  of  being  transmitted  to  posterity, 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  it  presents  perhaps  the  only  occasion 
when  Washington  was  known  to  have  been  guilty  of  offering 
to  any  individual  an  unprovoked  insult,  as  on  account  also  of 
his  having  set  the  meritorious  example  of  at  once  tendering 
the  amende  honorable.  Early  in  life,  Judge  Turner,  with 
most  of  his  Virginia  kindred,  removed  to  the  state  of  Ken- 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  jg 

tucky,  and  located  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lexington,  where 
so  many  distinguished   men  have  since  flourished.     There  he 
read  law  with  the  once  famous  George   Nicholas,    the    inti- 
mate friend  of  Thomas  Jefferson  for  many  years,  and  to  whose 
hands  Mr.  Jefferson  will   be   remembered  to  have  transmitted 
the  original  draft,  in  his  own  hand-writing,  of  the  never-to-be- 
forgotten  Kentucky  resolutions  of  '98-9;  in  which   it   is  em- 
phatically stated,  that  for  certain  palpable  breaches  of  the  fed- 
eral constitution,  "nullification  is  the  rightful  remedy y     Mr. 
Nicholas    was   always  mentioned  by  Judge  Turner  in  terms 
of  respect  and  gratitude,  and  to  his  valuable  instructions  he 
was  disposed  to  attribute  much  of  his  own  subsequent  success 
as  a  lawyer.     On  migrating  to  Mississippi,  then  a  territory, 
Judge  Turner  established  himself  in  the  bosom  of  a  small  in- 
terior village,  where   he  commenced  the  practice   of  his  pro- 
fession, holding  at  the  same  time   the  office  of  justice  of  the 
peace,  which  latter  he  found  quite   profitable.     Having  there 
accumulated  several  thousand  dollars,  in  a  few  years  he   re- 
moved to  the  city  of  Natchez,  where  he  soon  took  very  cred- 
itable rank  as  a  lawyer,  in  time  made  a  large  fortune,  became 
eminently  popular  and  influential,  and  was  at  last  elected  to 
the  dignified  station  which  he  now  held.     His  intellect  was  of 
a  sound  and  practical  cast,  his  industry  was  most  remarkable, 
and  he  was  of  unsurpassed  integrity.     His  warmest  friends  did 
not  claim  for  him  any  very  extraordinary  knowledge  of  law  as 
a  science,  and  he  had  no  literary  attainments  worth  noting,  be- 
yond the  sphere   of  his  own  chosen  profession.      He  was  a 
most  exemplary  person  in  all  the  domestic  and  social  relations, 
and,  on  several  trying  occasions,  and  especially  in  the  peril- 
ous season  of  185 1,  is  known  to  have  given  evidence  of  a 
steady  and  fearless  patriotism  worthy  of  the  best  ages  of  Greece 
and  of  Rome.     His  devotion  to  the  federal  union  was  as  in- 
tense as  that  of  Mr.  Clay  himself,  of  whom  he  was  always  a 
great  admirer. 

Judge  Child  was  quite  a  sui  generis  personage.  He  was  a 
native  of  New  England,  was  said  to  be  of  good  parentage, 
and  had  been  educated  in  the  best  New  England  style. 
He  was  a  good  Latin  and  Greek  scholar ;  had  read  law  with 


20      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

both  attention  and  success ;  had  traveled  a  good  deal ;  knew 
much  of  the  human  character ;  was  not  at  all  choice  in  his 
companionship;  drank  freely;  swore  hard;  was  lively  in  so- 
cial converse,  but  much  given  to  satirical  remark ;  in  collo- 
quial controversial  dispute  was  supposed  by  some  to  have 
greatly  excelled;  spoke  kindly  of  nobody;  delighted  much 
in  the  use  of  fire-arms  and  in  hunting;  was  a  good  horseman; 
of  fierce  and  indomitable  courage ;  believed  devoutly  in  the 
duelling  code ;  spoke  slightingly  of  womanhood  in  general, 
and  lived  and  died  a  bachelor.  He  was  about  five  feet  seven 
or  eight  inches  in  height;  of  a  body  as  long  in  proportion  to 
the  distance  of  his  head  from  the  ground,  when  he  was  stand- 
ing erect,  as  his  legs  were  short.  His  mind  was  agile  and  vig- 
orous ;  he  always  expressed  himself,  in  his  written  opinions, 
with  clearness  and  precision ;  and  always  with  a  decided  aver- 
sion to  long  and  flatulent  speeches,  to  turgid  declamation,  or 
the  copious  citation  of  books  of  authority.  He  exclaimed 
from  the  bench  of  the  circuit  court  in  Port  Gibson,  once,  when 
a  lawyer  of  some  standing  had,  after  reading  in  his  hearing 
the  whole  of  quite  a  long  judicial  opinion,  announced  with  an 
air  of  pleasant  exultation,  that  he  had  lying  before  him,  at 
least  seventeen  decisions  of  various  respectable  courts  precisely 
to  the  same  effect,  to  all  of  which  ,he  proposed  to  invite  his 
honor's  attention,  "What!  Do  you  say  that  these  authorities 
are  all  to  the  same  effect?  "  "  Yes,  sir,"  answered  the  delighted 
and  learned  advocate,  "I  do ;  they  are  all  to  the  same  effect, 
precisely."  '*  I  am  really  rejoiced  to  hear  it,"  said  the  sneer- 
ful  judge;  "and  you  will  please  have  the  goodness  to  read 
again  the  decision  I  have  already  heard  read  with  such  ex- 
quisite pleasure ;  as  I  thought  it  read  very  well ;  and  if  you 
will  read  it  over  again  sixteen  times,  we  shall  all  understand 
it  perfectly,  and  be  able  to  give  it  such  application  as  may  be 
right,  to  the  case  now  to  be  decided." 

On  another  occasion,  when  holding  court  in  the  city  of 
Vicksburg,  my  old  and  worthy  friend.  Judge  Coalter,  com- 
menced reading  a  few  extracts  from  a  legal  authority  of  the 
highest  character,  in  elucidation  of  a  question  which  had  arisen 
on  demurrer.     He  had  scarcely  opened  the  book  before  Judge 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  21 

Child  interrupted  him,  and  said,  "  Judge  Coalter,  put  down 
that  book;  I  have  read  all  the  law  in  the  world,  and  recollect 
well  what  I  have  read.  I  want  no  aid  from  the  musty  vol- 
umes you  have  brought  into  court.  If  you  have  any  original 
views  to  bring  forward,  I  will  listen  to  you  ;  otherwise  I  think 
you  would  do  well  to  take  your  seat."  Coalter,  in  mute  sur- 
prise at  this  wonderful  amount  of  learning  so  modestly  con- 
fessed by  the  judge,  took  his  seat  accordingly. 

I  heard  Judge  Child  relate  one  day,  that  he  had  a  few 
weeks  before  returned  from  a  visit  to  his  native  town  in  New 
England.  His  father,  he  said,  having  recently  died  and  left 
him  some  real  estate,  on  arriving  at  the  place  where  his  prop- 
erty was  located,  he  sent  a  message  to  a  tenant  of  the  prem- 
ises, demanding  the  payment  of  the  rent  which  remained  un- 
paid. "  And  what,"  said  he,  "  do  you  think  of  this  fellow's 
impudence  ?  He  refused  to  pay  me  a  dollar,  and  declined 
recognizing  me  as  landlord  ;  whereupon  I  hurried  to  his  resi- 
dence, had  myself  announced,  and  on  the  scoundrel's  making 
his  appearance,  I  told  him  that  I  had  come  to  force  him  to 
*  attorn  to  me,'  and  if  he  did  not  do  so  at  once,  I  should  cer- 
tainly give  him  a  severe  caning — calling  his  attention  signi- 
ficantly to  a  large  cane  which  I  then  held  in  my  hand.  You 
may  rest  assured  that  the  delinquent  tenant  did  attorn,  and  in 
double-quick  time." 

Judge  Child  was  often  known  to  sit  on  the  bench  in  some 
of  the  then  newly-settled  counties  of  the  state,  when  so  much 
overpowed  with  the  draughts  of  intoxicating  drink  which  he  had 
recently  imbibed,  that,  notwithstanding  his  ability  and  learning, 
he  was  wholly  incapable  of  conducting  the  business  of  the 
court  in  a  decent  and  orderly  manner.  This  was  particularly 
the  case  in  the  town  of  Benton,  during  one  of  the  last  courts 
he  ever  held  in  the  state,  on  which  occasion  I  well  remember 
his  calling  up  to  the  bench,  one  day  during  the  trial  of  a  most 
important  case,  a  drunken  attorney  to  preside  in  his  stead, 
whilst  he  went  across  the  public  square  to  a  low  drinkmg  shop 
to  "  wet  his  whistle,"  as  he  said.  It  was  in  this  town  that 
after  he  had  been  holding  court  for  a  week,  and  rendered 
many  judgments,  he  fell  into  a  fit  of  ill-humor,  and  avenged 


22      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

himself  on  the  members  of  the  bar  at  whom  he  had  taken 
offence,  by  suddenly  mounting  his  horse  and  riding  out  of 
town,  after  having  made  an  order  for  final  adjournment  with- 
out signing  the  minutes — thus  leaving  all  the  judgments  he  had 
been  granting  mere  nullities. 

It  is  certainly  true  that  the  very  outrageous  official  conduct 
of  Judge  Child,  together  with  the  ascertained  impossibility  of 
getting  rid  of  a  judge  misconducting  himself  ever  so  grossly, 
by  ivipeachmcnt,  contributed  very  materially  to  the  change 
which  was  at  this  period  effected  in  the  state  constitution — by 
means  whereof  the  election  of  judicial  officers  was  vested  in 
the  people,  and  the  life-tenure,  then  existing,  changed  to  a 
term  of  years. 

I  have  already  stated  that  Judge  Child  was  not  averse  to 
the  settlement  of  personal  difficulties  upon  what  is  called  the 
field  of  honor.  Indeed  I  have  scarcely  heard  of  a  more  des- 
perate duel  than  that  which  occurred  between  himself  and  a 
gentleman  whom  I  once  knew  well,  General  Joor.  The  latter 
was  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  and  was  not  a  little  proud  of 
his  place  of  birth.  He  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  John  C.  Cal- 
houn, and  sympathized  warmly  with  the  body  of  politicians 
in  the  South,  of  which  he  was  the  acknowledged  head.  Gen- 
eral Joor  was  in  affluent  circumstances,  a  planter  by  occupation, 
a  kind-hearted  and  sociable  gentleman',  but  of  a  temperament 
highly  inflammable.  I  never  knew  the  precise  origin  of  the 
dispute  between  himself  and  Judge  Child  which  resulted  in 
the  hostile  meeting  already  referred  to.  They  agreed  to 
a  rendezvous  on  the  verge  of  the  little  village  of  Woodville, 
in  the  vicinage  of  which  they  both  resided,  where  the  parties 
were  to  appear  on  a  certain  day,  without  regular  seconds 
on  either  side,  armed  and  accoutred  according  to  their  own 
taste,  and  to  fight  in  such  manner  as  might  be  most  agree- 
able to  them.  Child  came  attended  by  a  large  mulatto  body- 
servant,  who  drove  a  vehicle  of  some  kind  to  the  field  of  com- 
bat, loaded  down  with  muskets  and  pistols,  which  he  was  to 
hand  out  to  his  master  as  the  exigencies  of  the  battle  might 
render  necessary.  This  duty  he  is  said  to  have  performed 
with  singular  coolness  and  address.     The  parties  were,  1  be- 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.       23 

lieve,  both  severely  wounded,  but  neither  of  them  mor- 
tally. General  Joor  I  know  to  have  borne  the  marks  of  the 
conflict  upon  the  fingers  of  his  right  hand  all  his  life  after- 
wards. 

And  here  I  am  tempted  to  relate,  by  way  of  episode,  another 
affair  of  this  kind,  which  occurred  some  years  subsequent,  be- 
tween the  oldest  son  of  Benjamin  Watkins  Leigh  of  Virginia, 
and  Colonel  Fielding  Davis,  who  was  afterwards  federal  marshal 
in  Mississippi,  and  a  very  worthy  and  chivalrous  gentleman. 
Leigh  was  an  exceedingly  promising  young  member  of  the 
bar  of  Woodville.  The  parties  fought  not  far  from  Wood- 
ville,  and  Leigh  was  unfortunately  killed. 

Judge  Ira  R.  Nicholson,  also  a  judge  of  the  supreme  court 
at  the  period  referred  to,  was  born  in  Georgia,  and  was  for 
some  time  a  lawyer  in  the  southern  part  of  Alabama,  before 
he  settled  in  Mississippi,  where  he  very  soon  obtained  a  re- 
spectable standing  at  the  bar.  I  practiced  before  him  for 
some  years,  and  ever  found  him  good-natured,  affable,  atten- 
tive to  his  official  duties,  and  in  all  respects  a  trustworthy  per- 
son. He  was  never  at  all  inclined  to  make  himself  a  profound 
jurist,  and  was  generally  occupied,  when  not  on  the  bench, 
with  pursuits  not  at  all  calculated  either  to  enlarge  the 
amount  of  his  legal  attainments,  or  to  expand  and  invigorate 
his  intellect. 

Judge  Black  was  born  somewhere  to  the  north  of  Mason 
and  Uixon's  line,  and  his  education  had  been  there  so  well  at- 
tended to  as  to  enable  him  to  teach  a  select  classical  school  for 
several  years  before  he  took  his  position  at  the  bar.  He  was 
very  young  when  raised  to  the  bench,  and  had  awakened  ex- 
pectations of  high  distinction  in  his  profession,  never  fully 
realized.  Being  elected  to  the  position  of  United  States  Senator 
in  place  of  Judge  Powhattan  Ellis,  who  had  been  just  appointed 
federal  district  judge  by  President  Jackson,  he  there,  as  the 
colleague  of  the  celebrated  George  Poindexter,  opposed  very 
warmly  the  Democratic  administration  then  existing,  and,  in 
consequence  lost  his  popularity  in  Mississippi.  After  leaving 
the  senate  he  recommenced  the  practice  of  law,  but  gained 
little  additional  reputation  at  the  bar. 


24  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

Judge  Cage  was  born  and  reared  in  Tennessee,  and  was  a 
member  of  a  very  extensive  family  connection  in  that  state,  a 
number  of  whom  I  have  very  favorably  known.  He  was  a 
man  of  much  intellectual  vivacity;  of  a  warm  and  sympathetic 
heart;  brave  almost  to  a  fault;  exceedingly  energetic  and  en- 
terprising, and  the  delight  of  every  social  circle  into  which  he 
entered.  He  was  fond  of  novel  reading  and  politics,  and  had 
but  little  relish  for  law  books.  His  congeniality  of  temper; 
his  overflowing  facetiousness  ;  his  rare  talent  for  relating  amus- 
ing personal  anecdotes;  his  kind  and  unassuming  manners^ 
and  his  well-known  sincerity  and  manliness,  made  him  a  gen^ 
eral  favorite.  He  served,  between  1830  and  1834,  for  a  short 
time  in  Congress,  and  took  part  in  some  of  the  stormy  de- 
bates of  that  period,  but  soon  voluntarily  retired  to  a  fine 
plantation  which  he  owned  in  Louisiana,  where  he  lived  for 
many  years  in  a  state  of  cheerful  and  unbroken  repose. 

Of  such  materials  was  the  Supreme  Court  of  Mississippi 
composed  when  I  first  beheld  it  in  session.  Of  the  members 
of  the  bar  there  convened  I  have  some  vivid  and  pleasant 
remembrances,  which  I  will  now  as  concisely  as  possible  re- 
late. 

Robert  J.  Walker  was  at  that  time  universally  acknowledged 
to  be,  among  the  lawyers  of  the  state  then  surviving,  facile 
princeps.     Of  him  I  will  speak  more  particularly  hereafter. 

Thomas  B.  Reed,  William  C.  Griffith,  and  Robert  H.  Ad- 
ams had,  all  of  them,  disappeared,  only  a  year  or  two  before, 
from  that  grand  forensic  theatre  where  they  had,  severally, 
acted  so  distinguished  a  part.  Their  names  were  still  upon 
the  lips  of  hundreds  of  those  who  had  familiarly  known  them. 
Mr.  Reed  was  acknowledged  to  have  been  profoundly  versed  in 
the  mysteries  of  the  common  law,  and  to  have  been  singularly 
familiar  with  the  reported  decisions  both  of  this  country  and 
of  England.  He  had  a  remarkable  aptitude  for  the  profession 
which  he  had  adopted,  and  had  been  for  many  years  known, 
both  in  Kentucky  (his  native  state)  and  in  Mississippi,  to  have 
been  a  very  devoted  student.  In  general  learning  he  was  de- 
ficient; he  lacked  fluency  of  expression,  and  never  was  known 
to   attempt   what   is  called  forensic  eloquence.     His  person 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  2$ 

was  large  and  commanding ;  he  dressed  with  much  taste  and 
elegance ;  and  his  manners  were  marked  with  a  loftiness  bor- 
dering on  hauteur,  which  impressed  ordinary  beholders  with 
mingled  awe  and  aversion.  He  was  much  admired  and  ex- 
tolled by  several  of  the  younger  members  of  the  Natchez 
bar,  one  or  two  of  whom  were  accused  of  imitating  both  his 
style  of  speaking  and  his  somewhat  ostentatious  costume.  Du- 
ring the  short  period  that  he  occupied  a  seat  in  the  United 
States  senate  he  gained  no  little  reputation,  and  one  of  his 
last  speeches,  upon  what  was  called  the  judiciary  question, 
was  much  commended  in  the  newspapers  of  the  time,  and 
might  yet  be  read  with  no  little  profit  and  entertainment. 

Mr.  Griffith  was  born  in  Maryland.  He  fell  a  victim  to 
yellow  fever  in  the  summer  of  1828  or  1829.  He  had  enjoyed 
all  the  advantages  which  high  birth,  early  association  with 
persons  of  taste  and  refinement  and  a  finished  education  could 
supply.  He  was  a  man  of  much  and  varied  learning,  had 
mastered  the  science  of  law  in  all  its  branches,  and  had  be- 
come alike  expert  and  ingenious  in  argument,  and  skilled  in 
the  mysteries  of  the  art  rhetorical,  when  he  made  his  first 
appearance  at  Natchez,  some  fifty-five  or  sixty  years  ago.  I 
am  quite  satisfied  that  he  was,  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  by 
far  the  most  polished  and  fascinating  speaker  that  a  Missis- 
sippi audience  had  ever  then  heard.  His  face  was  full  of  benig- 
nity ;  his  gesticulation  was  most  graceful ;  and  his  voice  was 
melody  itself  He  had,  when  thus  suddenly  cut  off,  accumu- 
lated a  considerable  fortune,  had  been  married  to  a  most  beau- 
tiful, wealthy,  and  accomplished  lady  (the  daughter  of  Judge 
Turner),  and  seemed  to  be  in  reach  of  the  most  wide-spread 
and  lasting  renown. 

Robert  H.  Adams  was,  in  some  respects,  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  men  that  this  country  has  produced.  Born  in  the 
valley  of  Virginia,  of  poor  and  obscure  parents,  he  was  bound 
apprentice  to  the  cooper's  trade,  at  which  he  is  well  known  to 
have  worked  for  several  years  subsequent  to  his  reaching  the 
years  of  manhood.  His  early  education  must,  of  necessity, 
have  been  exceedingly  defective.  By  whom  or  by  what  cir- 
cumstances his  attention  was  first  turned  to  the  legal  arena,  I 


26      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

• 

have  never  been  able  to  learn.  Possibly  an  inward  conscious- 
ness of  superior  native  endowment  may  have,  in  this  instance,  as 
in  so  many  others,  supplied  the  needed  motive  power.  It  would 
be  pleasing  to  know  something  of  the  budding  hopes  of  such 
a  rare  original  genius;  to  ascertain  the  primordial  food  upon 
which  his  eager  mental  appetite  was  nourished,  and  to  learn 
that  he  was  in  some  degree  aided  in  his  early  studies  by 
^he  counsels  of  some  sympathizing  and  generous  patron.  But 
in  regard  to  these  matters  we  have  been  left  entirely  in  the 
dark.  He  took  his  position  at  the  bar  of  East  Tennessee,  so 
far  as  is  now  known,  unfriended  and  undirected,  at  a  time 
when  it  was  supplied,  as  it  ever  has  been  for  the  last  three- 
quarters  of  a  century,  with  able  and  successful  attorneys, 
many  of  whom  have  s?nce  reached  civil  positions  of  the  high- 
est dignity.  Here  he  was  able  to  secure  a  competent  living, 
but  his  earnings  v/ere  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  his  soaring  as- 
pirations, and  he  determined  to  pass  the  Cumberland  mountain 
range  and  try  the  chances  of  professional  success  in  Nashville^ 
then  a  promising  village.  Here  he  remained  only  long  enough 
to  obtain  the  means  of  journeying  still  further  west,  and  he 
then  came  to  Natchez,  where  he  seems  almost  immediately  to 
have  attracted  favorable  notice  and  to  have  become  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  most  astute  and  vigorous  reasoners,  as 
well  as  one  of  the  most  winning  and  impressive  advocates 
that  this  city,  so  prolific  in  gifted  men,  had  ever  known. 
Robert  H.  Adams  could  never  justly  lay  claim  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  man  of  erudition.  It  is  doubtful  whether  he 
at  any  time  acquired  more  than  a  smattering  of  any  lan- 
guage save  that  vernacular  tongue  in  the  use  of  which  he 
afterwards  became  so  potential.  It  is  certain  that  the  lucu- 
brations of  Aristotle,  of  Quintillian,  and  of  the  other  an- 
cient masters  of  dialectics  and  of  the  art  rhetorical,  were 
ever  to  him  as  a  sealed  fountain.  He  has  never  been  even 
suspected  of  looking  with  a  critic's  glance  upon  the  won- 
drous classic  writers  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome.  Newton 
and  Locke,  Leibnitz  and  Descartes,  Bacon  and  Hobbes,  he 
had  probably  only  heard  spoken  of.  The  best  speeches  ot 
Demosthenes  and  Cicero  he  had  doubtless  perused  in  an  Eng- 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  2/" 

lish  dress;  and  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  he  had  pored  with 
delight  over  the  imposing  orations  of  Burke  and  Chatham,  of 
Fox  and  Pitt,  of  Erskine  and  of  Curran.  With  the  history  of 
his  own  country  he  is  said  to  have  become  well  acquainted, 
and  often  to  have  alluded  to  the  great  American  statesmen 
and  warriors  of  our  own  revolutionary  era;  but  it  is  painful 
to  reflect  that  his  vigorous  and  elastic  intellect  had  never  re- 
ceived any  regular  and  methodical  training  whatever,  and  that 
he  had  been  thus  far  precluded  from  a  thousand  renowned 
sources  of  melioration  and  improvement,  to  which  many  minds 
of  far  inferior  grade  had  enjoyed  easy  and  unobstructed  ac- 
cess. And  yet  it  is  certainly  true  that  Robert  H.  Adams  had,, 
in  some  way  or  other,  succeeded  in  impressing  all  those  who- 
had  listened  to  his  animated  and  persuasive  addresses  in  court, 
with  the  conviction  that  he  was  indeed  one  of  nature's  most 
wonderful  productions;  that  he  was  able  to  encounter  any 
speaker  of  his  time,  and  in  a  manner  creditable  to  himself, 
upon  any  of  the  great  questions  which  he  was  called  to  dis- 
cuss ;  that  he  was  an  undoubted  master  of  all  the  legal  lore 
which  he  had  occasion  to  adduce;  that  he  could  make  a  state- 
ment of  facts  in  the  hearing  of  the  jury,  in  a  manner  so  lucid, 
so  concise,  and,  withal,  so  suggestive,  as  to  render  it  impos- 
sible that  the  most  adroit  and  artful  adversary  should  be  able 
to  confuse  or  becloud  them ;  that  he  could  be  as  witty  and 
amusing  as  the  nature  of  the  case  which  he  had  in  hand  would 
admit  of;  that  he  could  be  as  bitterly  sarcastic  as  if  he  had 
been  all  his  life  employed  in  learning  the  language  of  oblo- 
quy and  denunciation ;  that  he  could  talk  when  he  pleased  in 
the  melting  strains  of  heart-moving  pathos,  or  thunder  forth 
against  some  known  offender  such  indignant  tones  of  con- 
tempt and  abhorrence  as  to  compel  the  most  hardened  crim- 
inal to  tremble  before  the  picturings  of  his  own  enormity,  and 
despair  of  longer  holding  in  concealment  from  the  eyes  of 
mankind  the  dark  secrets  of  a  soul  up  to  that  moment  confi- 
dent of  evading  all  scrutiny  and  of  obviating  all  serious, 
suspicion  of  iniquity.  Most  of  those  who  knew  Robert  H. 
Adams  well,  undoubtedly  adjudged  him  to  possess  more  of 
native  ability  than  any  of  his  distinguished  rivals  for  foren- 


28       BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST, 

sic  renown  in  Mississippi ;  and  had  he  lived  a  few  years  lon- 
ger, and  used  those  means  of  intellectual  culture  which  a  seat 
in  the  national  senate  is  well  known  to  bring  within  reach, 
there  is  no  knowing  what  amount  of  fame  he  might  have  ac- 
quired, or  what  wonders  he  would  have  achieved  upon  the 
theatre  of  national  affairs.  He  was  much  beloved  by  all 
who  held  familiar  intercourse  with  him,  and  he  is  believed  to 
have  departed  fi'om  the  the  world  leaving  no  enemy  behind 
him. 

After  the  almost  contemporaneous  demise  of  the  three  ex- 
traordinary personages  I  have  just  named,  it  has  been  already 
stated  that  Robert  J.  Walker  became  the  acknowledged  head 
of  the  Natchez  bar.  His  elder  brother,  Duncan,  had  been  for 
some  years  a  resident  of  Natchez,  when,  on  the  elevation  of 
his  then  professional  partner,  Judge  Turner,  to  the  bench,  he 
invited  Robert  to  leave  his  native  state  (Pennsylvania)  and 
join  him  in  the  practice  of  law  in  Judge  Turner's  place.  The 
education  of  Robert  J.  Walker  was  as  complete  as  the  schools 
of  that  period  could  supply.  He  had  studied  both  the  com- 
mon and  the  civil  law,  with  assiduity  and  success.  He  was 
said  to  have  obtained  in  addition  a  diploma  at  the  renowned 
medical  college  of  Philadelphia.  He  was  thoroughly  versed 
in  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages.  He  could  both  speak  and 
write  French  with  facility  and  elegance.  He  had  given  much 
attention  to  mathematical  studies,  and  was  quite  a  proficient 
in  astronomy,  chemistry,  botany,  geology,  and  mineralogy. 
He  could  write  smooth  and  flowing  verses  in  English,  and 
was  in  early  life  much  inclined  to  exercise  himself  in  this  way. 
He  was  the  most  untiring  student  I  have  ever  known,  and  he 
had  such  a  memory  as  few  men  besides  himself  have  ever 
displayed.  He  could  write  off  or  dictate  to  an  amanuensis  a 
long  speech  upon  any  subject  which  had  closely  engaged  his 
attention,  and  then  repeat  it  verbatim  without  the  aid  of  a 
single  note.  This  wonderful  fact  is  known  to  many  thousands. 
Mr.  Walker  always  made  the  most  ample  preparation  for  an 
argument  in  court,  or  for  a  speech  elsewhere,  and  then  often 
poured  forth  such  a  stream  of  ideas  as  were  greatly  entertain- 
ing and  edifying,  and  often  astonishing,  to  those  who  listened 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 


2^ 


to  him.     He  possessed,  as   I  have  thought,  no  large  amount 
of  originaHty ;  his  imagination  had  been  cultivated  to  the  ut- 
most, but  its  picturings  were  deficient  in  vividness  and  variety 
of  coloring ;  and  his  appeals  to  the  passions  were  often  feeble 
and    ineffective.      He   always    spoke    and  wrote  with   strict 
scholastic  accuracy,  and  with  a  clearness  and  precision  which 
might  well  defy  criticism  ;  but  he  displayed  on  no  occasion 
any  remarkable  felicity  of  diction,  or  such  exquisite  beauties 
of  phraseology  as  to   draw  forth  from  persons   of  taste  and 
sensibility  expressions  of  special  admiration  and  delight.     He 
was  possessed,  perhaps,  of  as  large  a  fund  of  learning  of  almost 
every  description,  as  almost  any  man  of  his  times  ;  but  others,, 
with  far  inferior  attainments,  have  been  able  to  effect  far  more 
than  he  can  be  supposed  to  have  done,  and  have  shown  a 
capacity  for  persuading  and  commanding  their  fellow-men,  far 
beyond  anything  which  the  history  of  Mr.  Walker  can  be 
said  to  have  brought  to  view.     I  do  not  recollect  of  ever  hear- 
ing any  important  subject  mentioned  in  Mr.  Walker's  hearing 
of  which  he  seemed  to  be  altogether  ignorant ;  but  he  did 
not  always  show  off  his   information  to  the  best  advantage, 
and  he  sometimes  appeared  to  impede  the  action  of  his  intel- 
lect by  constraining  it  to  bear  up  under  a  larger  mass  of  scien- 
tific facts  than  it  was  altogether  capable  of  supporting.     Mr.. 
Walker  was  a  man  of  strong  and  generous  instincts  ;  of  great 
simplicity  and  kindness  of  heart ;  of  a  most  charitable  and 
confiding  temper  ;  but  he  was  far  from  being  always  judicious 
in   the  selection  of  his  friends,  or  the  recipients  of  his  confi- 
dence.    His  person  was  well  proportioned  but  decidedly  di- 
minutive ;  his  features  were  as  delicate  in  their  conformation,, 
and  as  benign  and   playful   in  their  expression  as  if  he  had. 
himself  belonged  to  the  gentler  sex.     He  is  said  to  have  had 
much  personal  comeliness  when  a  child,  as  might  well  have 
been  believed.     His  voice,  in  conversation,  was,  on  all  ordin- 
ary occasions,  soft  and  even  tender  in  its  accents.     In  the  de- 
livery of  a  speech  of  much  importance,  there  was  in  that  voice 
something  which  I  have  never  seen  so  strikingly  displayed  in 
any  other  instance;  its  tones  were  either  high  and  resounding 
or  so  low  as  scarcely  to  be  heard ;  the  transitions  of  which; 


30  BEN'CH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

were  alike  sudden  and  extreme,  without  the  least  approach  to 
the  famous  os  rotundum  so  much  lauded  by  Cicero.  In  listen- 
ing, therefore,  to  a  long  speech  from  Mr.  Walker,  however 
cogent  it  might  be  in  argument,  rich  with  instruction,  and 
varied  in  its  topics,  the  ear  became  inevitably  wearied  with 
the  constantly  recurring  iteration  of  sharply  contrasted 
sounds.  Mr.  Walker  would,  I  feel  assured,  have  very  greatly 
excelled  as  a  law  professor  at  some  university,  and  on  the 
bench  he  would  have  doubtless  earned  most  extend|d  and 
lasting  fame. 

Next  to  the  two  Walkers,  Spence  M.  Grayson  oftenest  ap- 
peared at  the  bar  of  the  Natchez  courts  in  1830.  He  was  born 
either  in  Alabama  or  in  Virginia;  I  believe  that  he  was  a  descen- 
dant of  that  Grayson  so  well  and  favorably  known  in  the  early 
history  of  Virginia,  and  for  several  years  a  representative  of  that 
state  in  the  Congress  of  the  Union  towards  the  close  of  the  last 
century.  Spence  M.  Grayson  had  been  engaged  in  the  practice 
of  the  law  for  some  years  at  the  period  of  my  last  seeing  him. 
He  was  a  fine-looking  man  of  about  thirty  years  of  age  ;  de- 
lighted not  a  little  in  the  adornment  of  his  person ;  was  a 
plain,  direct  and  sensible  speaker ;  well  informed  in  his  pro- 
fession ;  honest,  industrious  and  pains-taking.  He  had  many 
cases  i»  his  hands,  was  said  to  be  making  money  rapidly,  and 
had  been  just  married  to  a  most  interesting  lady  with  whom 
he  seemed  to  enjoy  much  happiness.  He  died  some  thirty 
years  since,  leaving  a  wife  and  several  children.  One  of  these, 
a  son,  whom  I  once  knew  familiarly,  became  a  married  man 
about  twenty  years  ago.  He  did  not  live  happily  with  his 
wife,  whom  I  saw  in  California  in  the  year  1858.  What  was 
my  surprise  at  learning  a  year  or  two  ago,  that  this  female 
was  the  same  person  who  had  been  known  so  extensively 
since  as  the  celebrated  Laura  Fair! 

Robert  H.  Buckner  was  also  a  member  of  the  bar  of  Natchez 
in  the  year  1830,  and,  as  the  partner  of  John  T.  McMurran, 
enjoyed  no  little  personal  prosperity.  He  was  a  quiet  and  un- 
obtrusive person,  much  given  to  the  study  of  law  books,  and 
in  truth  reading  little  else  at  any  time.  He  was  an  eminently 
safe  and  honest  legal  adviser,  but  excelled  little  as  a  forensic 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.       31 

speaker.  He  afterwards  became  chancellor  of  the  state,  in 
which  office,  though  acquiring  no  extended  fame,  he  com- 
manded alike  the  respect  of  his  brother  attorneys  and  of  the 
country  at  large. 

Much  was  I  entertained  during  my  sojourn  of  a  few  weeks 
in  Natchez  with  various  learned  and  able  arguments  in  court 
which  I  there  heard,  and  not  less,  I  may  well  say,  with  the  pleas- 
ures of  social  intercourse  to  which  I  was  there  admitted.  I 
shall  l^ave  occasion  hereafter  to  speak  of  several  gentlemen 
whom  I  there  met,  and  of  whom  I  have  not  thus  far  made 
mention,  but  who  stand  honorably  enrolled  among  the  attor- 
neys of  Mississippi  of  a  former  generation. 

Whilst  making  ready  to  leave  Natchez,  I  fell  into  company, 
by  accident,  one  morning,  at  the  hotel  where  I  was  staying, 
with  a  young  gentleman  who  at  the  very  first  sight  impressed 
me  with  a  deep  and  peculiar  interest.  He  was  apparently  in 
delicate  health,  and  was  evidently  suffering  also  from  serious 
depression  of  spirits.  He  gave  me  some  account  of  his  per- 
sonal history,  which  I  found  to  be  not  a  little  tinctured  with 
romance,  and  marked  with  several  incidents  well  calculated  to 
awaken  feelings  of  tenderest  commiseration. 

He  had  a  special  claim  upon  my  sympathy  by  reason  of 
the  fact  that  he  was,  like  myself,  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  a 
friendship  at  once  sprang  up  between  us  which  lasted,  without 
the  least  abatement  of  kindness  on  either  side,  up  to  the  pe- 
riod of  his  lamented  decease,  some  seventeen  or  eighteen 
years  ago.  I  refer  now  to  Edward  C.  Wilkinson,  a  consum- 
mate scholar,  an  erudite  lawyer,  and  an  upright  and  pious  gen- 
tleman. After  having  achieved  much  success  in  his  profession, 
and  after  having  surrounded  himself  with  multitudes  of  friends 
and  admirers,  he  became  involved  in  a  tragic  affair  in  the  city 
of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  of  most  melancholy  import,  which  re- 
sulted in  his  being  tried  for  murder,  amid  the  raging  of  a  fu- 
rious local  excitement,  and  in  his  being,  in  the  end,  honorably 
acquitted.  This  ca.se  is  one  of  marked  celebrity,  and  in  de- 
fence of  Judge  Wilkinson,  S.  S.  Prentiss  made,  in  association 
with  the  celebrated  John  A.  Rowan,  one  of  the  ablest  speeches 
of  his  life — in  opposition  to  Benjamin  Hardin,  whose  extraor- 


32  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

dinary  powers  were  most  vehemently  exerted  in  order  to  bring^ 
about  a  conviction. 

Judge  Wilkinson  and  myself  traveled  up  the  Mississippi 
river  in  companj'^,  in  January,  183 1,  as  far  as  Vicksburg,  where 
he  left  me  for  Yazoo  City,  which  was  afterwards  his  place  of 
residence  for  many  years,  and  where  his  memory  is  yet  pro- 
foundly respected.  I  remained  in  Vicksburg,  where  I  labored  for 
professional  success  for  some  years  amid  localities  strangely 
marked  with  events  of  a  startling  and  tragical  character  in 
after  days.  There  I  found  many  lawyers  of  decided  ability^ 
some  of  whom  have  since  borne  a  distinguished  part  in  the 
history  of  the  country,  but  nearly  all  of  whom  have  long  since 
ceased  to  live. 

I  had  not  been  in  Vicksburg  many  days,  when  the  inn- 
keeper, in  whose  house  I  was  staying,  called  my  attention  to 
a  serious  personal  grievance  which  he  had  recently  experi- 
enced, and  for  the  redress  of  which  he  was  disposed  to  ap- 
peal to  judicial  arbitrament.  The  mayor  and  common  coun- 
cil of  Vicksburg  had  passed  an  ordinance  several  months  be- 
fore for  the  closing  of  his  hotel,  on  the  alleged  ground  that  a 
case  or  two  of  small  pox  had  broken  out  among  the  inmates 
thereof  The  hotel  had  been  accordingly  shut  up,  and,  as 
mine  host  insisted,  this  had  deprived  him  oi  a  large  amount  of 
valuable  custom.  I  was  glad  to  have  so  early  an  opportunity 
of  entering  the  field  of  litigious  strife,  under  circumstances 
apparently  so  auspicious,  and,  accordingly,  I  lost  no  time  in 
the  commencement  of  an  action  for  damages.  The  declaration 
filed  in  the  case  was  responded  to  by  a  general  demurrer,  and 
the  question  was  thus  raised  whether  the  corporate  authori- 
ties of  the  city  possessed  adequate  authority  to  adopt  and 
enforce  such  an  ordinance  as  the  one  complained  of  Before 
the  case  came  on  to  be  argued,  S.  S.  Prentiss,  then  a  young 
and  inexperienced  lawyer,  like  myself,  arrived  in  Vicksburg^ 
with  some  intention  of  locating  himself  there.  I  invited  him 
to  aid  me  in  the  argument  of  the  demurrer,  which  he  very 
willingly  agreed  to  do,  and  soon  after  did,  in  point  of  fact,  make 
an  argument  of  such  extraordinary  force  and  ingenuity,  that 
he  was  immediately  invited  to  become  a  member  of  a  law  firm 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  33 

in  Vicksburg  of  the  highest  rank  there.  Thenceforward  Mr. 
Prentiss'  forensic  career  was  one  of  uninterrupted  prosperity, 
and  his  reputation  as  an  advocate  continued  to  expand  and 
display  additional  splendor,  up  to  the  end  of  his  mortal  ca- 
reer. 

I  shall  venture  here  to  repeat  what  I  have  thought  proper 
to  say  of  this  remarkable  person  elsewhere.  "About  two 
years  before  I  first  saw  Mr.  Prentiss,  he  had  landed  at  Natchez, 
as  I  repeatedly  heard  from  his  own  lips,  with  a  single  dime  in 
his  pocket.  He  had,  at  the  time,  no  acquaintance  there,  and 
had,  as  yet,  not  studied  a  profession.  His  college  course 
had  just  been  completed  at  an  excellent  institution  in  New 
England,  and,  being  quite  proficient  in  the  several  branches 
of  learning  to  which  he  had  been  giving  his  attention,  he 
determined  to  make  an  effort  to  obtain  a  small  private  school. 
In  this  he  succeeded,  and  he  followed  this  respectable  voca- 
tion for  a  year  or  two,  during  which  period  he  was  ap- 
plying himself  with  extreme  diligence  to  the  study  of  the 
law.  The  distinguished  Robert  J.  Walker,  then  a  lawyer  in 
full  practice,  was  kind  enough  to  open  his  library  to  his  eager 
and  enquiring  mind,  and  he  was  soon  able  to  obtain  license  to 
practise  in  all  the  courts  of  the  state  of  Mississippi. 

"  There  was  much  that  was  remarkable  in  the  appearance 
and  bearing  of  Mr.  Prentiss  at  this  time.  He  was  not  more,  I 
think,  than  five  feet  six  and  a  half  inches  in  height,  and  was 
very  stoutly  built,  and  well  proportioned.  His  head  was  some- 
what large  when  compared  with  his  body ;  it  was  in  truth  a 
head  that  a  Grecian  artist  might  well  desire  to  copy.  His  fore- 
head was  wide,  high,  almost  semi-circular  in  its  outline — so 
admirably  were  all  the  phrenological  organs  developed.  His 
eyebrows  were  full,  but  not  bushy,  and  were  gently  arched. 
His  eyes  were  large  and  bright,  and  of  an  expression  in  which 
the  absolute  fearlessness  of  his  nature  was  very  happily  blen- 
ded with  the  rarest  geniality  of  spirit,  and  the  keenest  relish 
for  the  ludicrous.  He  had  but  a  moderate  beard,  and  always 
kept  his  face  cleanly  shaven.  His  chest  was  one  of  uncom- 
mon expansiveness,  and,  though  perfectly  straight  between 
the  shoulders,  a  stranger  approaching  him  from  the  rear  could 


34  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF    SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

not  avoid  being  struck  with  the  singular  breadth  and  fullness 
of  the  whole  tergal  superficies.  His  nose  was  Grecian,  and 
was  both  beautiful  in  shape  and  highly  expressive.  His  upper 
lip  was  a  little  shorter  than  is  customary,  and  of  a  flexibility 
I  have  never  seen  equalled.  Often  was  he  seen  to  curl  it  up, 
both  in  mirth  and  in  anger,  displaying  to  view  a  row  of  strong, 
well-set.  and  beautifully  white  teeth.  He  had  all  his  life  suf- 
fered from  a  lameness  in  one  of  his  feet — suggesting  to  the 
historic  beholder,  a  similar  pedal  blemish,  alike  in  Agesilaus 
and  in  Byron — and  he  was  said  to  have  a  good  deal  of  sensi- 
tiveness as  to  this  matter,  though  if  such  was  the  case,  I  never 
was  able  to  discover  it.  He  hobbled,  of  course,  very  percept- 
ably  in  his  gait,  and  would,  I  conjecture,  have  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  walk  at  all  without  the  aid  of  a  large  stick  which  was 
his  perpetual  attendant.  When  I  was  introduced  to  him  forty- 
two  years  ago,  Natchez  was  already  full  of  his  fame.  He 
had  delivered  several  speeches  at  the  bar,  which  all  admitted 
never  to  have  been  equalled  there,  either  in  vigor  of  argument, 
brilliancy  of  expression,  or  rich  and  flowing  facetiousness. 
Though  exceedingly  modest  by  nature,  yet  the  signal  foren- 
sic triumphs  which  he  had  already  achieved  over  men  of  estab- 
lished reputation,  had  inspired  him  with  a  manly  confidence 
in  his  own  powers,  which  could  not  but  be  more  or  less  ap- 
parent, both  in  his  aspect  and  demeanor,  and  alike  amid  the 
discussions  of  the  forum  and  in  ordinary  converse.  I  was  talk- 
ing only  a  short  time  since  with  the  Hon.  Joseph  Holt,  in 
reference  to  his  former  illustrious  rival  in  oratory  at  the  Mis- 
sissippi bar,  and  was  not  at  all  surprised  to  find  that  his  opin- 
ion of  Mr.  Prentiss'  extraordinary  powers  was  altogether  in 
harmony  with  my  own.  I  have  been  long  satisfied  that  in 
regard  to  all  the  faculties  and  graces  which  constitute  the  ver- 
itable orator,  Sargent  S.  Prentiss  was  equal  to  any  man  of 
modern  times,  and  such  is  my  estimate  of  him  in  this  respect 
that  I  should  distrust  either  the  judgment  or  sincerity  of  any 
one  who,  after  having  once  listened  to  him  in  a  case  calculated 
to  bring  his  remarkable  abilities  into  full  display,  should  ex- 
press a  different  opinion.  At  times  he  was  indeed  most  elec- 
trical in  his  utterances,  reminding  one  at  all  versed  in  Hebraic 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 


35 


Icfre,  of  the  soul-thrilling  strains  of  an  Isaiah  or  an  Ezekiel ; 
whilst,  on  other  occasions,  yet  well  remembered  by  many  still 
living,  his  wondrous  harangues  imparted  credibility  to  all  the 
gorgeous,  and,  perchance,  over-wrought  descriptions  which  we 
have  read  in  relation  to  the  majestic  thunderings  of  a  Pericles 
or  a  Henry,  or  of  the  soul-dissolving  pathos  of  a  Somerficld  or 
a  Maffet.  I  was  not  at  all  surprised  to  see  it  published  in  the 
newspapers  of  Boston  many  years  ago,  on  the  occasion  of 
Mr.  Prentiss'  visit  to  that  city  for  the  first  time,  that  even  in 
the  midst  of  that  memorable  dinner-speech  which  he  was  then 
delivering,  Mr.  Webster  and  Mr.  Everett,  with  eyes  overflow- 
ing under  his  magic  enunciations,  were  heard  generously 
whispering  to  each  other,  '  We  have  never  heard  such  elo- 
quence as  this  before.' " 

Whilst  all  who  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  hear  Mr.  Pren- 
tiss speak  in  court  will,  I  am  sure,  agree  with  me  in  the  opin- 
ion that  he  was  very  superior  to  most  of  those  with  whom  he 
came  in  contact  in  the  management  and  discussion  of  causes, 
both  on  the  civil  and  criminal  side  of  the  docket,  it  seems  to 
have  been  generally  thought  that  his  grandest  manifestations 
of  the  peculiar  powers  of  the  advocate,  as  distinguished  from 
mere  logical  analysis,  occurred  in  the  prosecution  and  defence 
of  persons  charged  with  criminal  offences.  Such  certainly  is  the 
conclusion  to  which  I  have  myself  arrived,  after  much  reflec- 
tion, and  after  much  consultation  with  others.  Whether  his 
powers  of  persuasion  were  more  fully  put  in  requisition  in 
vindicating  the  innocent  against  unjust  and  virulent  assail- 
ment,  or  in  the  bringing  of  great  offenders  to  justice,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  decide ;  for  he  seemed,  in  cases  of  every 
description,  to  be  entirely  equal  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
occasion  arising,  and  he  most  generally  succeeded  in  sur- 
passing the  expectations  of  all  who  came  to  listen  to  him. 
I  should,  though  with  some  hesitation,  decide  that  his 
speech  in  prosecution  of  Alonzo  Phelps,  and  that  against 
Mercer  Byrd  were  his  forensic  masterpieces.*"!  chanced 
to  be  enlisted  in  the  defence  both  of  Phelps  and  Byrd,  and  had, 
therefore,  a  most  favorable  opportunity  of  appreciating  the 
*  Vide  Casket  of  Reminiscences. 


$6  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

power   displayed    on   the  part   of  the   prosecution.     Alonzo 
Phelps  was  a  native  of  New  England.     According  to  his  own 
account  of  himself,  he  had,  in  a  fit  of  jealousy,  slain   a  rival 
lover  in   his  native  vicinage,  secreted  the  body  of  his  victim 
in   a  neighboring  mill-pond,  and   fled  to  the  valley    of   the 
Mississippi.     He  had  here  been  a  wanderer  for  many  years,  sel- 
dom entering  any  human    habitation,  and   subsisting  mean- 
while altogether  upon  the  raw  meat  of  squirrels  and  other  wild 
animals  which  he   had  captured  in  the  chase.     He  had  long 
infested  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi ;  had  committed  eight 
murders  and  more  than  sixty  robberies,  and  had  some  dozen 
times   broken  jail  and  evaded    the  punishment  of  the    law. 
Strange  to  say,  he  was  a  ripe  and  accurate  scholar,  and  when 
taken  prisoner,  a  few  weeks  subsequent  to  the  perpetration  of 
his    last  murder,  had,  as  I    personally  know,   a  much-worn 
pocket-copy  of  Horace  in  his  possession,  which  he  was  able 
to  read  with   much  more  facility  than   our  ordinary  college 
graduates  would  be  likely  to  evince,  and  with  a  far  keener 
relish  for  the  quiet  and  unpretending  beauties  of  the  poetic 
friend  and  protegee  of  the  great   Mecaenas  than  Lord   Byron 
reports  himself  to  have  at  any  time   felt.     The  trial  of  Phelps 
had  attracted  to  the  Vicksburg  court-house  a  vast  assemblage 
of  excited  citizens.     Judge  Montgomery,  an  able  and  learned 
functionary,  who,  I  am  glad  to  know,  is  still  living,  presided 
on  the  occasion.     I  was  aided   in  the  defence  of  the  prisoner 
by  two  very  accomplished  and  able  gentlemen,  John  Gildart, 
Esq.,ofWoodville,  and  Mr.  Pelton,  then  a  resident  of  Natchez, 
but  now  a  wealthy  sugar  planter  of  Louisiana,  and  a   most 
worthy   and  interesting  person.     General  Felix  Huston  and 
several  other  attorneys  of  rank,  co-operated  with  Mr.  Pren- 
tiss and  the  district  attorney  in  furtherance  of  the  prosecu- 
tion.    The  speech  delivered  by  Mr.  Prentiss  would  have  en- 
hanced the  fame  of  an  Erskine,  a  Mcintosh,  or  a  Curran.    His 
delineation  of  the  character  of  the  accused  was,  indeed,  most 
masterly,  in  the  course  of  which  he  bestowed  upon  him  the  im- 
perishable cognomen  of  'The  Rob  Roy  of  the  Mississippi,' 
in  allusion  to  his  having  habitually,yearafter  year,  levied  'black 
mail'   upon  the  unhappy  travelers  whom  he  had,  from  time  to 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST.  37 

time,  encountered  on  the  highways  along  the  banks  of  the 
great  river;  hundreds  of  whom  he  had  despoiled,  and  some  of 
them  under  circumstances  both  romantic  and  ludicrous. 
Phelps  had  been,  of  course,  relieved  of  his  irons  before  being 
brought  into  court  for  trial,  but  it  had  been  deemed  expedi- 
ent to  surround  him  with  an  armed  guard.  His  appearance 
on  the  occasion  was  very  striking  and  impressive.  He  was 
a  muscular,  well-shaped  man,  about  five  feet  eleven  inches  in 
height,  and  evidently  possessed  of  great  vigor  and  activ- 
ity. He  had  a  particularly  fair  complexion,  though  somewhat 
bronzed  and  freckled  from  constant  exposure  to  the  damp 
air  of  the  river  bank  and  the  torrid  rays  of  a  southern 
sun.  His  hair  was  blood-red,  and  was  much  inclined  to  curl 
up  in  knots,  and  his  crispy,  snakelike  locks  stood  stiffly  up 
over  and  about  his  cranium,  with  a  singularly  fierce  and 
menacing  aspect.  His  keen  gray  eyes  exhibited  a  curious 
blending  of  audacity  and  furtiveness.  Prentiss'  speech  galled 
and  irritated  him  greatly.  When  the  orator  was  depicting  the 
enormous  and  shameless  criminality  of  the  culprit,  and  most 
fiercely  looked  him  full  in  the  face,  with  a  most  withering  look 
of  scorn  and  indignation,  I  saw  the  muscles  of  this  hardened 
criminal  quiver  with  convulsive  agony;  and  seeming  presently 
to  grow  desperate,  he  bent  forward  a  little  and  whispered  in 
my  ear:  '  Tell  me  whether  I  stand  any  chance  of  acquittal, 
and  tell  me  frankly ;  for  if  my  case  is  hopeless,  I  will  snatch  a 
gun  from  the  guard  nearest  me  and  send  Mr.  Prentiss  to  hell 
before  I  shall  myself  go  there.'  Never  was  I  more  embar- 
rassed in  my  life.  I  saw  that  my  robbing  and  murdering 
client  was  in  dead  earnest.  I  did  not  doubt  that  at  this  mo 
ment  Mr.  Prentiss  was  fully  in  his  power.  If  he  should  slay 
him,  he  would  deprive  of  life  one  whom  I  could  not  help 
loving  and  admiring  much,  despite  the  unkind  relations  then 
existing  between  us.  Were  Prentiss  assassinated  by  the  hands 
of  this  fiendish  ruffian,  immediately,  too,  after  this  whisper- 
ing intercourse  with  me,  who,  of  all  that  vast  crowd,  would 
hold  me  guiltless  ?  I  may  have  been  wrong,  but  frankness 
constrains  me  to  confess  that  I  whispered  back  to  Phelps, '  you 
are  not  in  the  least  danger ;  we  shall  have  no  difficulty  what- 


38       BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

ever  in  preventing  your  conviction,  and  shall  presently  intro- 
duce a  motion  for  a  new  trial,  or  in  arrest  of  judgment,  which 
will  save  you  from  all  further  annoyance.' " 

The  jury  in  a  few  moments  brought  in  a  verdict  of  "  guilty,'* 
as  they  could  not  avoid  doing  without  the  commission  of  the 
most  shameless  perjury;  and  Phelps  escaped  being  hung 
upon  the  scaffold  only  by  breaking  jail  and  endeavoring  to 
fly  towards  the  river  bank,  in  the  attempt  to  do  which  he  was 
shot  down  by  the  sheriff  of  the  county,  a  most  resolute  and 
faithful  officer, 

I  have  more  than  once  had  occasion  to  declare  that  1  have 
myself  heard  only  one  man  whom,  as  an  advocate  in  criminal 
causes  of  difficulty,  I  should  think  of  comparing  to  Mr.  Pren- 
tiss ;  and  of  the  gentleman  thus  alluded  to,  I  purpose  to  take 
somewhat  more  than  a  mere  passing  notice. 

It  was  in  the  autumn  of  1837  that  the  renowned  Joseph 
Holt  first  made  his  appearance  in  the  state  of  Mississippi.  On 
his  arriving  among  us,  in  the  central  portion  of  the  state^ 
he  quickly  ascertained  that  his  fame  as  a  supporter  of  the 
sound  democratic  creed  of  the  ancient  time,  had  preceded 
him,  for  the  eloquent  harangue  which  he  was  reported  to 
have  delivered  in  the  national  Democratic  convention  of  the 
previous  summer,  in  support  of  the  nomination  of  Richard 
M.  Johnson  for  the  vice  presidency,  had  been  read  with  min- 
gled surprise  and  rapture  in  every  nook  and  corner  of  the 
land,  and  Mr.  Holt  had  already  become  a  great  popular  favor- 
ite everywhere,  and  especially  among  the  appreciative  and  en- 
thusiastic inhabitants  of.  the  rapidly  advancing  southwest. 
Such  a  reception  was  now  accorded  to  him  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  Mississippi  capital  as  must  have  been  both  sur- 
prising and  gratifying  to  him,  though  he  met  the  cordial  greet- 
ings of  his  new-found  friends  with  a  bland  and  unassuming 
courtesy  in  which  there  was  not  a  particle  of  weak-minded 
exultation  or  self-sufficient  vanity.  It  was  at  that  time  whis- 
pered about  among  those  who  had  known  him  in  Kentucky 
that  he  had  recently  been  the  recipient  there  of  a  rare,  and, 
perhaps,  unprecedented  personal  compliment  at  the  hands  of 
the  governor  of  that  commonwealth,  who  had,  in  a  very  cour- 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.       39 

teous  and  respectful  manner  degrlined  re-appointing  him  to  the 
office  of  district-attorney  which  he  had  for  several  years  filled 
with  distinguished  credit,  on  the  ground  that  his  powers  as  a 
prosecutor  were  such  as,  when  fully  exerted  against  an  ordi- 
nary citizen  charged  with  crime,  rendered  acquittal  well  nigh 
an  impossibility.  However  this  may  have  been,  there  cer- 
tainly was  nothing  in  the  countenance  or  manner  of  Mr.  Holt 
to  indicate  undue  severity  of  temper  or  to  suggest  the  idea 
that  he  could  be  induced  either  by  venality  or  exorbitant  per- 
sonal ambition  to  give  an  over  rigorous  and  oppressive  opera 
tion  to  the  crimnal  law,  or  to  disregard  the  claims  of  humanty. 
It  has  been  elsewhere  said  by  the  writer  of  this  article,  that 
Mr.  Holt,  on  becoming  domiciliated  in  Mississippi,  "  lost  no 
time  in  entering  upon  the  brilliant  forensic  career  now  open- 
ing before  him  ;"  and  that,  "by  an  extraordinary  display  of 
professional  diligence,  as  well  as  by  giving  constant  evidence 
of  ability,  he  succeeded  in  the  short  space  of  four  or  five  years, 
in  accumulating  an  estate  larger  than  is  seen  to  reward  the 
labors  of  most  lawyers  in  a  life-time.  In  the  argument  of 
causes  of  the  greatest  dignity  and  importance,  he  was  never 
known  to  put  on  a  dogmatical  or  assuming  manner,  never 
seemed  to  forget  the  proprieties  of  his  position,  or  indulged, 
to  the  least  extent,  in  unseemly  affectation  or  triviality.  He 
always,  when  engaged  in  the  duties  of  his  vocation,  had  an 
air  of  serenity  and  mildness  (not  as  common  at  the  bar  as  it 
should  be),  and  his  then  pale  and  somewhat  sallow  face  was 
a  little  shaded  by  what  seemed  to  be  an  expression  of  sad- 
ness ;  the  tones  of  his  voice,  when  he  was  not  under  the  in- 
fluence of  some  very  strong  and  sudden  emotion,  were  inex- 
pressibly soft  and  touching,  and,  as  he  advanced  from  point  to 
point  of  his  never  flagging  discourse  to  court  or  jury,  he  be- 
came so  marvellously  fascinating  to  his  enraptured  audience 
that  few  who  heard  the  opening  sentences  of  his  exordium, 
were  able  to  tear  themselves  away  from  the  scene  until  the 
closing  words  of  his  ever  animated  and  fervid  peroration  had 
been  pronounced.  He  indulged  less  than  any  speaker  I  have 
known  in  studied  gesture  or  attempts  at  stage  effect,  and 
scarcely  ever  was  known  to  withdraw  his  thoughtful  and  earn- 


40       BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST, 

est  gaze  from  the  countenayes  of  those  whom  he  was  ad- 
dressing, for  a  single  instant ;  and,  strange  to  say,  no  one  ever 
saw  him,  on  any  occasion,  cast  a  glance  of  inquiry  towards 
the  surrounding  audience,  as  if  in  quest  of  the  wished-for 
signs  of  approval — now,  alas,  so  customary.  It  was  most  ev- 
ident that  Mr.  Holt  was,  even  then,  a  well-read  lawyer,  and 
the  style  in  which  he  expressed  himself,  either  to  judge  or  jury, 
bore  evident  marks  of  the  highest  literary  culture." 

The  first  of  the  speeches  made  by  him  after  his  arrival  in 
Mississippi  that  attracted  any  very  particular  attention,  was 
one  which  he  delivered  in  the  court-house  at  Vicksburg,  in 
certainly  as  remarkable  a  case  as  has  ever  been  tried.  An 
elderly  individual  by  the  name  of  Herring,  and  who  had  been 
for  many  years  an  extensive  negro-trader,  was  charged  with 
having  murdered  his  own  son,  and  the  district  attorney  being 
much  indisposed  at  the  time,  Mr.  Holt  was  induced  to  give 
what  aid  he  might  choose  to  contribute  towards  bringing  the 
alleged  offender  to  justice.  The  affair  had  aroused  the  most 
intense  interest  in  the  community,  and  opinions  were  some- 
what conflicting  touching  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  accused. 
Herring  was  quite  a  large  cultivator  of  cotton,  and  divided  his 
time  between  his  residence  in  the  country  and  one  which 
he  owned  in  town.  His  son,  then  almost  of  mature  years, 
lived  with  him  at  his  town  mansion.  It  appeared  that  un- 
pleasant, if  not  hostile  feelings,  had  sprung  up  between  father 
and  son  in  connection  with  a  colored  mistress  of  the  former, 
for  whom  he  suspected  his  son  of  having  become  too  partial. 
Herring,  the  elder,  was  a  very  free  consumer  of  intoxicating 
liquids,  and  was  generally,  especially  towards  the  winding  up 
of  the  day,  more  or  less  under  the  influence  of  Bacchus.  One 
evening,  about  twilight,  the  neighbors  round  about  the  Her- 
ring domicile  were  startled  by  the  sound  of  a  pistol,  which 
had  apparently  been  fired  off  in  Herring's  back  yard.  Many 
rushed  to  the  spot  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  what  had 
caused  so  unusual  an  occurrence,  and  several  individuals,  on 
entering  the  house,  found  young  Herring  bleeding  profusely, 
and  lying  motionless  upon  the  ground.  Upon  examining  the 
body,  a  gun-shot  wound  was  found,  from  which  the  blood 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.       4 1 

was  still  flowing  freely,  and  in  a  few  seconds  the  young  man 
was  no  more.  His  father  presented  himself  to  view,  but  in  re- 
sponse to  the  inquiries  propounded  to  him,  he  said  that  a 
stranger  had  suddenly  entered  the  premises,  and,  after  firing 
at  his  son,  had  fled.  This  story  was  so  confused  and  his  man- 
ner so  marked  with  embarrassment — wholly  unmixed  with 
paternal  sympathy — as  at  once  to  awaken  suspicions  of  guilt. 
It  was  noted  as  a  striking  fact,  too,  that  he  was  altogether 
unable  to  describe  the  stranger,  of  whom  he  had  spoken,  or 
to  explain  in  what  manner  he  had  entered  the  lot  or  made  his 
escape.  He  could  not  even  state  in  what  direction  he  had 
fled.  Those  present  resolved  to  search  the  house,  and  when 
doing  so,  found,  on  entering  Herring's  chamber,  that  some 
one  had  deposited  a  pistol  there,  under  the  pillow  that  lay  at 
the  head  of  the  bed  in  which  he  usually  slept.  The  pistol 
was  yet  warm,  as  if  it  had  just  been  fired  off.  There  was  an- 
other shocking  fact  in  the  case :  before  the  departure  of  the 
crowd.  Herring  coldly  requested  one  of  those  present  to  have 
the  body  of  his  son  interred — stating  that  he  would  be  an- 
swerable for  the  burial  expenses,  and  enquired,  in  addition, 
whether  there  would  be  any  impropriety  in  his  being  present 
at  the  funeral  ceremonial ! 

He  denied  most  vehemently  and  persistently  that  he  was 
the  slayer  of  his  son,  and  seemed  to  have  but  little  apprehen- 
sion as  to  the  result  of  any  legal  proceedings  which  might 
be  instituted.  He  gave  bail  for  his  appearance  at  court  to  un- 
dergo trial.  Before  the  case  came  on  to  be  tried,  the  excite- 
ment occasioned  by  the  killing  to  some  extent  subsided,  and 
as  Herring  was  a  man  of  wealth,  and  could  afford  to  pay  large 
fees  to  lawyers,  and,  possibly,  even  suborn  witnesses,  should 
this  become  necessary,  there  were  not  a  few  who  supposed 
that  his  acquittal  was  at  least  a  possible  occurrence. 

When  the  trial  took  place,  and  no  testimony  in  addition  to 
that  which  has  been  specified  had  been  yet  adduced,  both 
Herring  and  his  counsel  appeared  to  be  confident  of  an  easy 
acquittal.  The  fact  was  unknown  to  them  that  another  wit- 
ness was  yet  to  be  brought  forward  who  would  be  able  to  give 
evidence  against  the  accused  of  a  most  conclusive  character. 


42       BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

And  now  did  this  witness  appear  in  court.  There  lived  at  the 
time,  in  a  house  adjoining  Herring's,  a  woman  who  was  in  a 
very  low  state  of  health,  and  who  seldom  rose  from  the  bed 
on  which  she  was  expecting  soon  to  die.  On  the  night  of  the 
murder,  the  weather  was  very  sultry  and  enfeebling,  and  she 
made  an  effort  to  rise  up  and  creep  into  the  veranda  of  her 
house,  in  order  to  snatch  a  few  breaths  of  fresh  air.  She  had 
barely  reached  the  threshold  of  her  own  door,  when  she  heard 
the  report  of  the  pistol  in  Herring's  enclosure,  followed  imme- 
diately by  the  exclamation  :  "  Oh  father  !  you  have  shot  me  T* 
To  these  words  there  was  no  reply ;  and  this  woman  was  the 
only  human  being,  except  Herring  himself,  near  enough  to 
hear  the  last  words  of  the  dying  man.  When  all  the  other 
witnesses  had  been  examined,  as  has  been  already  mentioned, 
this  female,  to  all  appearance  on  the  edge  of  the  grave,  was 
borne  into  the  court  on  the  arms  of  her  friends,  and  detailed 
the  facts  of  which  she  was  cognizant,  with  a  clearness  and 
impressive  solemnity  which  could  leave  no  doubt  upon  the 
mind  of  any  in  the  vast  concourse  there  assembled,  that  the 
*^ father"  whom,  amidst  the  deepening  shadows  of  that  terri- 
ble night,  she  had  heard  addressed  by  his  dying  boy,  in  words 
of  such  damning  accusation,  could  not  possibly  be  any  other 
person  than  the  ruffianly  and  unrepentant  prisoner  then  await- 
ing the  just  punishment  of  a  cruelly  violated  law. 

After  what  I  have  already  said  of  Mr.  Holt's  powers  as  an 
advocate,  I  may  well  leave  it  to  the  imagination  of  the  reader 
to  body  forth  the  speech  which  he  was  likely  to  enunciate 
upon  such  an  occasion  as  I  have  described.  That  speech  I 
have  often  heard  alluded  to  by  those  who  heard  it,  all  of 
whom  united  in  declaring  it  to  have  equalled,  and  even  sur- 
passed all  the  conceptions  they  had  previously  formed  of  the 
electrifying  force  of  human  eloquence.  The  glowing  and 
overwhelming  peroration  is  yet  vividly  recollected  by  hun- 
dreds, in  which  he  compared  the  aged  and  hardened  monster, 
whom  he  was  there  struggling  to  subject  to  the  exemplary 
punishment  of  the  law,  to  Nero  as  delineated  by  the  pen 
of  Tacitus — swollen  and  brutified  by  long-continued  sen- 
sual indulgence — with  a  heart  accustomed  to  crime  and  ob- 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST, 


45 


livious  alike  of  the  sacred  obligations  of  filial  duty  and  the 
all  needful  decencies  of  social  life — gazing  with  those  blood- 
shotten  and  cruel  eyes  of  his  upon  the  face  of  that  now  mute 
and  voiceless  mother  whom  he  had  just  caused  to  be  stealthily 
murdered — and,  with  more  than  Mephistophelic  sneerfulness 
of  tone  and  visage,  coldly  commending  that  comeliness  of 
person  once  imputed  to  her,  who,  in  days  now  past  and  gone, 
had  given  nourishment  to  his  own  feeble  infancy  from  that 
now  marble  and  pulseless  bosom; —  or  when,  as  he  could  not 
help  even  yet  remembering,  his  ears  had  drunk  in  with  delight 
the  tender  whisperings  of  maternal  affection,  or  his  yet  guile- 
less and  uncorrupted  heart  had  gladdened  in  that  smile  which 
had  now  given  way  to  the  clayey  and  expressionless  aspect 
which  it  is  death's  alone  to  impart,  ere  yet  his  cold 
defacing  fingers 
Have  swept  the  lines  where  beauty  lingers, 

On 

That  first  dark  day  of  nothingness. 
The  last  of  danger  and  distress. 

I  have  spoken  of  Mr.  Holt  and  Mr.  Prentiss  as  having  been 
rivals  at  the  bar  of  Mississippi,  and  so,  indeed,  in  a  certain 
sense  they  were;  for  they  were  both  eager  and  ambitious 
strugglers  for  professional  fame  upon  the  same  attractive  the- 
atre ;  they  were  both  surrounded  by  numerous  applauding 
friends  and  admirers ;  comparisons  between  them  were  often 
instituted  ;  and  repeatedly  did  they  meet  in  earnest  conflict  in 
the  various  courts  of  the  state.  I  am  not  aware  that  either  of 
these  gentlemen  ever  displayed  feelings  of  illiberal  jealousy 
towards  his  accustomed  opponent,  or  was  heard  to  apply  to 
him  the  language  of  decrial  or  disparagement ;  though  there 
is  no  reason  to  believe  that  they  were  ever  upon  terms  of  per- 
sonal intimacy.  In  truth  they  differed  so  much  from  each 
other  in  disposition,  in  habits  of  life,  as  well  as  in  political 
opinions,  that  it  would  have  been  almost  impossible  that  they 
could  have  lived  together  in  the  same  vicinage  without  being 
in  some  degree  accessible  to  occasional  feelings  of  unkindness^ 
or  at  least  of  estrangement.  The  most  noted  civil  case  by 
far  in  which  I  ever  knew  them  to  be  arrayed  against  each 
other  was  that  of  "  Vick  and   Rappeleye  v.  The  Mayor  and 


P 


44       BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

Aldermen  of  Vicksburg."  This  case  involved  a  large  amount 
of  property,  and  had  awakened  much  local  feeling.  In  it  Mr. 
Prentiss  had  a  large  contingent  fee  depending,  supposed  to  be 
as  much  in  value  as  several  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  he 
was,  of  course,  particularly  anxious  to  succeed.  He  had  never 
been  known  to  make  such  elaborate  preparation  m  any  case  be- 
sides. There  was  much  ground  for  contestation,  both  as  to 
facts  and  law,  and  the  interesting  question  of  "  dedication"  as  it 
is  called,  which  has  arisen  so  often  in  connection  with  our  ris- 
ing towns  and  cities  within  the  last  half  century  (the  doctrine 
appertaining  to  which  is  perhaps  not  altogether  settled),  under- 
went, on  this  occasion,  a  most  laborious  and  searching  examina- 
tion. The  copious  and  learned  briefs  filed  in  this  case,  and 
which  are  to  be  found  in  the  volumes  of  reports  of  that  period, 
may  be  yet  read  with  interest  and  instruction.  It  was,  indeed, 
a  battle  of  giants,  and  its  progress  was  observed  with  intense 
interest  by  many  not  personally  connected  with  the  controversy. 
Mr.  Prentiss  and  Mr.  Holt  were,  of  course,  the  Achilles  and 
Hector  of  the  scene,  though  several  other  attorneys  partici- 
pated to  some  extent  in  the  struggle  in  a  manner  highly  cred- 
itable to  them.  Mr.  Prentiss  was  successful  before  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Mississippi,  but  the  decision  of  that  tribunal  was 
afterwards  reversed  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Union,  and 
Mr.  Prentiss  lost  his  expected  fee.  In  the  condition  of  his  pecu- 
niary affairs  at  that  period,  this  was,  indeed,  a  severe  blow, 
but  he  bore  up  under  the  disastrous  result  with  manly  dignity, 
and  was  seldom  heard  to  complain  of  his  ill-fortune.  A  year 
or  two  after,  he  removed  to  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  where  he 
did  not  long  survive.  Mr.  Holt,  about  the  same  time,  owing 
to  continued  ill-health,  withdrew  from  the  regular  practice  of 
his  profession ;  travelled  much  in  foreign  lands  ;  returned  ; 
was  called  to  occupy  a  respectable  official  position  in  Wash- 
ington City ;  has  been  long  there  since,  in  the  discharge  of 
duties  involving  serious  and  delicate  responsibilities  ;  has  been 
in  the  meantime  the  subject  of  much  commendation  and  of 
much  dispraise,  according  to  the  prejudices  and  partialities  of 
men  of  opposing  political  factions;  and  still  survives  in  the 
full  possession  of  his  faculties,  and  in  far  more  robust  physical 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST.  45- 

health  than  when  he  first  made  his  appearance  in  the  state  of 
Mississippi,  almost  forty  years  ago. 

In  the  year  1830  the  state  of  Mississippi  was  one  of  the 
least  populous  in  the  Union,  though,  as  I  have  said  already^ 
there  was  much  wealth  there,  much  intelligence,  and  much 
enterprise.  The  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Indians  had  not  yet 
relinquished  their  primeval  homes  and  gone  to  reside  beyond 
the  great  "  Father  of  Waters."  When  this  grand  exodus  oc- 
curred, a  few  years  later,  an  almost  unprecedented  tide  of 
population  flowed  to  Mississippi  from  other  states,  and  from- 
beyond  the  ocean  ;  and  the  most  remarkable  influx  of  lawyers- 
also  took  place,  which  has  been  ever  known  in  this  country. 
These  came  chiefly  from  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Virginia^ 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Maryland,  New  York  and  New  Jersey. 
Many  of  them  were  persons  of  much  intelligence  and*worth, 
and  of  no  little  standing  and  influence  in  the  states  whence 
they  had  migrated.  Of  a  number  of  them  I  shall  have  much 
to  say  hereafter,  both  as  barristers  and  as  occupants  of  the 
bench  ;  and  there  are  likewise  a  considerable  number  of  those 
who  were  residents  of  the  state  at  a  much  earlier  period,  and 
well-known  in  connection  with  the  legal  profession,  whose 
merits  will  be  hereafter  noticed,  should  these  numbers  be  con- 
tinued. 

I  propose  to  close  the  present  article  with  some  remarks 
upon  one  of  the  new-comers  of  that  period  from  the  state  of 
Kentucky,  with  whom  it  was  my  happiness  to  enjoy  for  many 
years  relations  of  the  closest  intimacy,  and  of  whom  thousands 
yet  surviving  cherish  the  most  pleasant  and  respectful  remem- 
brance.    I  allude  to  the  Hon.  Daniel  Mayes. 

Judge  Mayes,  if  I  have  not  been  the  recipient  of  erroneous 
information  concerning  this  matter,  first  saw  the  light  in  Ken- 
tucky. It  is  certain  that  he  studied  his  profession  in  that 
state  and  practiced  there  for  many  years  previous  to  his  com- 
ing to  the  state  of  Mississippi.  He  came  to  his  new  home 
in  the  Southwest  with  a  high  reputation  for  legal  learning  and 
ability,  and  was  known  by  many  among  us  as  having  offici- 
ated most  creditably  as  a  law  professor  at  the  Transylvania 
University.     Many  of  those  who  had  sat  under  his  sage  minis- 


46  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

trations  at  this  famous  institution,  had  preceded  Judge  Mayes 
in  his  advent  to  this  inviting  theatre,  and  had  been  every- 
where heard  to  speak  of  their  revered  preceptor  in  terms  of 
glowing  and  grateful  commendation. 

This  gentleman,  after  a  calm  survey  of  the  field  of  profes- 
sional labor  upon  which  he  was  about  to  enter,  concluded  to 
open  an  office  in  the  city  of  Jackson.  His  merits  were  not 
slow  in  being  discovered  in  this  locality,  nor  did  he  have  to 
wait  long  before  he  became  enlisted  in  many  cases  of  much 
interest  and  complexit>%  in  all  of  which  he  more  than  equalled 
the  public  expectation.  He  at  once  showed  himself  to  have 
mastered  every  branch  of  the  law,  and  to  be  fitted,  in  every  re- 
spect, for  the  competition  in  which  he  was  now  to  engage.  As 
a  special  pleader,  I  do  not  suppose  that  he  had,  in  the  whole 
state  of  Mississippi,  an  equal.  He  was  a  smooth  and  grace- 
ful speaker ;  an  adroit  and  skilful  logician ;  was  of  most  gen- 
tle and  conciliatory  manners,  and  of  a  patient  and  persevering 
energy  which  no  difficulties  could  baffle,  no  embarrassments 
could  perplex,  no  amount  of  professional  labor  could  fatigue  or 
discourage.  As  a  forensic  speaker  he  was  always  calm,  strictly 
methodical  in  the  arrangement  of  his  matter  ;  terse,  vigorous, 
and  pointed  in  his  phraseology,  and  singularly  accurate  and 
felicitous  in  his  choice  of  words.  He  has  the  credit  of  hav- 
ing made  one  of  the  most  effective  speeches  of  his  life  in  the 
celebrated  Beauchamp  case  in  Kentucky,  and  this  I  am  myself 
not  at  all  inclined  to  doubt;  since  I  have  heard  from  his  own 
lips,  that  he  exerted  himself  on  that  occasion  far  beyond  what 
was  customary  with  him.  Judge  Mayes  was  in  general  cheerful 
and  fond  of  social  intercourse,  but  suffered  from  occasional  fits 
of  despondency,  arising,  as  he  thought,  from  physical  causes, 
which  rendered  him  at  times  a  little  gloomy  and  morose,  and 
induced  him  to  avoid  all  company  save  that  of  his  own  quiet 
and  beloved  home.  In  the  contests  of  the  forum  he  was 
never  captious  or  impolite;  never  coarsely  boisterous;  never 
in  the  least  degree  dogmatic  or  egotistical.  He  constantly 
evinced  the  nicest  sense  of  professional  propriety  ;  was  never 
known  to  be  unduly  punctilious  or  exacting,  and  never  took 
an   unseemly  personal  liberty ;   but    if  his    own  sensibilities 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 


47 


were  gratuitously  assailed,  or  he  was  treated  with  marked  in- 
civility by  an  adversary,  he  was  far  from  being  slow  in  the 
emphatic  assertion  of  his  own  dignity  and  in  compelling  the 
aggressor  to  lament  his  own  temerity. 

Judge  Mayes  was  assuredly  one  of  the  most  acceptable  and 
useful  forensic  allies  that  could  be  wished  for :  he  was  ready 
to  take  upon  himself  any  amount  of  labor  that  the  exigencies 
of  the  case  in  which  he  chanced  to  be  employed  might  seem 
to  demand ;  was  perfectly  frank  in  the  disclosure  of  such 
views  as  he  had  adopted,  m  advance  of  the  expected  argument, 
and  in  all  causes  seriously  involving  life,  reputation  or  fortune, 
his  active  and  suggestive  mind  was  ever  on  the  alert,  in  the 
devising  of  new  expedients  for  the  furtherance  of  his  client's 
interests,  in  finding  out  new  avenues  of  escape  from  unfavor- 
able presumptions  of  any  kind,  in  casting  new  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  opposing  counsel,  or  in  the  framing  of  subtle  and 
ingenious  interpretations  of  some  disputed  fact,  or  of  some 
ambiguous  provision  of  law  applicable  to  the  case  under  in- 
vestigation. 

I  am  here  to  invite  attention  to  several  interesting  criminal 
trials  in  which  I  recollect  this  remarkable  personage  to  have 
taken  part,  and  in  which  his  skill  and  ability  were  brought 
forth  in  a  particularly  striking  manner. 

A  man  of  very  humble  social  standing  by  the  name  of 
Dunn,  and  who  resided  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  county 
in  which  Judge  Mayes  himself  lived,  stood  charged  with  the 
murder  of  a  female,  under  most  peculiar  circumstances.  The 
accused  individual  had  previously  sustained  an  irreproachable 
character  for  industry,  sobriety  and  amiableness  of  temper.  He 
had  never  been  known  to  wrangle  with  his  neighbors,  was  just 
and  upright  in  all  his  dealings,  was  kind  and  exemplary  in  do- 
mestic life,  and  was  not  known  to  have  an  enemy  in  the  world. 
He  lived  in  a  neat  and  comfortable  cottage,  on  a  much-travelled 
road,  and  occasionally  entertained  persons  who  chanced  to 
call  upon  him  for  such  accommodations  as  his  humble  mansion 
could  supply.  A  female  stopped  at  his  gate  one  day,  of  gen- 
teel appearance,  having  two  children  in  her  arms — and  asked 
for  admission,  which  was  of  course  not  refused  her,  as  she 


48  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF    SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

stated  that  her  husband  would  join  her  in  a  day  or  two,  he 
having  gone  upon  a  short  journey.  The  children  were  twins, 
and  were,  at  the  time,  apparently  only  about  a  month  or  two 
old.  The  woman  was  herself  quite  good  looking,  but  was 
almost  a  giantess  in  dimensions.  Several  months  rolled 
away,  and  no  husband  yet  made  his  appearance.  Dunn  and 
his  wife  were  in  quite  an  embarrassing  predicament.  They  did 
not  wish  to  turn  the  woman  out  of  doors,  but  she  had  as  yet 
paid  them  not  a  cent  for  her  board,  and  they  were  too  poor  to 
allow  her  to  remain  with  them  without  some  prospect  of  re- 
muneration. Mrs.  Dunn,  who  appeared  to  be  an  amiable 
person,  and  in  very  delicate  health,  concluded  that  she  would 
name  the  matter  to  her  mysterious  boarder,  and,  if  she  found 
that  she  could  pay  nothing  for  the  entertainment  she  was 
receiving,  to  request  of  her,  civilly,  to  leave  her  house.  This 
she  did  accordingly,  when  the  female  in  question  flew  into  a 
violent  rage,  and  used  the  most  insulting  language,  rushed  out 
of  doors,  and,  seizing  a  large  wooden  trough  which  she  found 
lying  in  the  yard,  came  back  to  the  house  with  it,  and 
holding  it  aloft  in  both  her  hands,  was  in  the  very  act  of 
striking  Mrs.  Dunn  with  it,  when  Mr.  Dunn  himself  (having 
been  drawn  from  the  shop,  where  he  was  working,  by  the  loud 
and  angry  words  which  had  been  uttered),  struck  the  assail- 
ing party  with  the  butt-end  of  a  whip  which  he  chanced  to 
hold  in  his  hands  at  the  time,  and  felled  her  to  the  earth ;  where 
she  immediately  died!  A  post  mortem  examination  was  im- 
mediately had,  from  which  it  appeared  that  the  head  of  this 
unfortunate  female  had  received  some  injury  in  the  region  of 
the  temple,  but  that  the  skull  had  not  been  at  all  fractured. 
The  surgeon  conducting  the  examination  declared  that  the 
death  had  been  caused  by  the  sudden  bursting  of  an  artery; 
but  whether  this  bursting  of  the  artery  had  been  the  effect  of 
a  sudden  rushing  of  blood  to  the  head  produced  by  a  violent 
fit  of  anger,  or  had  been  either  wholly  or  in  part  the  result  of 
the  blow  which  had  been  struck,  he  was  not  prc[)ared  to  say. 
The  neighbors  who  gathered  to  the  spot  where  this  fearful  dis- 
aster had  occurred,  found  Dunn  and  his  wife  in  tears  and  in 
an  agony  of  grief;  the  dead  body  of  the  unfortunate  woman 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      49 

lying  upon  the  ground  where  she  had  fallen,  and  her  twin 
children  clinging  to  her  bosom  to  obtain  the  nourishment 
which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  receive  therefrom.  A 
more  piteous  spectacle  than  this  was  hardly  to  be  imagined. 
Dunn  set  off  immediately  for  the  city  of  Jackson  in  order  to 
obtain  professional  advice  as  to  the  course  which  it  would  be 
best  for  him  to  pursue  under  these  alarming  circumstances. 
Here  he  was  counselled  to  surrender  himself  at  once  to  the 
civil  authorities,  which  he  did,  and  gave  bail  for  his  appear- 
ance at  the  circuit  court  of  the  county,  which  was  in  a  few 
days  to  be  held. 

When  the  day  of  trial  came  on,  Judge  Mayes  and  the  coun- 
sel associated  with  him  in  defence  of  Dunn,  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  he  could  not  possibly  escape  conviction  for  mur- 
der, unless  his  daughter,  a  little  girl  about  ten  years  old, 
who  had  witnessed  the  scene  just  detailed,  could  be  used 
as  a  witness  in  his  behalf  She  had  seen  and  heard  all  that 
had  taken  place,  and,  being  of  far  more  than  ordinary  in- 
telligence, might  be  able  to  give  such  an  explanation  of 
facts  as  would  save  her  father's  life.  Judge  Mayes,  with  that 
astuteness  which  was  one  of  his  most  striking  characteristics, 
advised  that  the  case  should  be  continued  until  the  next  term 
of  the  court,  and  that,  meanwhile,  the  little  girl  should  be  sent 
to  a  good  school,  and  taught  especially  the  responsibility  at- 
tached to  the  oath  which  she  was  expected  to  take.  This 
course  was  accordingly  pursued.  When  at  last  the  trial  came 
on,  and  the  little  girl  was  produced  in  court,  the  wisdom  of 
the  course  which  had  been  pursued  became  most  manifest ;  for, 
not  only  did  our  young  novitiate  stand  nobly  all  the  tests  of 
her  competency  to  which  the  representative  of  the  state  sub- 
jected her,  but  she  gave  such  a  sensible  and  lucid  statement  of 
all  the  particulars  of  this  sad  occurrence  as  almost  entirely  to 
justify  her  father  in  what  he  had  done,  in  order  to  save  his 
wife  from  the  serious  bodily  injury  with  which  she  was  ob- 
viously menaced. 

The  speech  made  by  Judge  Mayes  in  defence  of  Dunn  was 
extolled  by  all  who  heard  it  as  a  marvellous  combination  of 
ingenious  and  forcible  argument,  winning  and  pathetic  elo- 


50  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

quence,  and  lucid  exposition  of  the  law.  Dunn  was  convicted 
of  manslaughter,  and,  after  a  short  confinement,  was  released 
from  prison  and  restored  to  the  society  of  his  family;  but  this 
unfortunate  affair  clouded  the  remainder  of  his  life  with  sor- 
row, and  he  was  never  seen,  as  I  learn,  again  to  enjoy  that 
serenity  and  cheerfulness  for  which  he  had  been  once  re- 
markable. 

A  case  of  at  least  equal  interest  and  of  much  greater  diffi- 
culty was.  not  long  after  tried  in  the  county  of  Rankin, 
whither  it  had  been  removed  by  change  of  venue,  in  the 
management  of  which  Judge  Mayes  prominently  participated, 
and  in  which  he  gained  much  additional  reputation.  At  a 
time  of  severe  pecuniary  pressure,  a  Mr.  Pigg,  having  become 
surety  for  a  neighbor,  was  sued  and  a  judgment  obtained 
against  him  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  more 
than  the  value  of  all  the  property  he  owned  in  the  world.  He 
had  a  large  and  helpless  family,  chiefly  composed  of  a  wife 
and  some  half-dozen  small  children.  His  own  health  was  not 
good  ;  he  had,  in  fact,  suffered  much  from  a  serious  contusion 
of  his  skull,  received  in  one  of  the  famed  battles  fought  in 
the  winter  of  1815,  in  defence  of  the  city  of  New  Orleans. 
He  was  a  very  industrious,  hard-working  man,  and  was  a 
most  devoted  husband  and  father.  He  had,  latterly,  taken  to 
drink,  and  when  at  all  under  the  influence  of  alcoholic  stimu- 
lus, was  very  irritable,  and  not  a  little  pugnacious.  His 
character  in  other  respects  was  unexceptionable.  A  deputy 
federal  marshal  had  recently  visited  his  house,  and  levied  an  ex- 
ecution on  all  he  possessed,  which  he  was  informed  would,  in 
a  few  days,  be  sold.  The  wretched  man  was  in  a  state  of 
despair.  He  had  some  angry  words  with  the  deputy  marshal, 
and  he  vowed  to  him  that  he  would  never  submit  to  have  his 
family  turned  out  to  starve.  The  marshal,  in  turn,  used  some 
insulting  and  acrimonious  words  which  rankled  in  the  sen- 
sibilities of  Pigg  after  the  termination  of  their  interview. 
On  the  day  fixed  for  the  sale  of  Pigg's  goods,  an  announce- 
ment was  made  to  him  that  the  marshal  was  at  the  door. 
Pigg»  i"  a  condition  of  mind  easier  to  be  imagined  than 
described,  seized  his  gun,  rushed  to  the  door,  and  fired  upon 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.       51 

the  officer  whom  he  found  standing  there,  and  killed  him. 
So  soon  as  this  fatal  act  had  occurred,  it  was  ascertained  that 
the  person  who  had  been  shot  was  not  the  officer  with  whom 
he  had  previously  quarrelled,  but  another  individual  altogether, 
who  had  been  sent  in  his  place,  and  who  had  been  up  to  that 
time,  wholly  unknown  to  Pigg.  When  this  mistake  of 
persons  was  made  known  to  the  unhappy  man,  he  burst  into 
tears,  and  could  scarcely  be  prevented  from  taking  his  own 
life. 

This  was  the  precise  character  of  the  case  in  which  Judge 
Mayes  was  now  called  upon  to  exert  his  high  powers  in  order  to 
save  a  fellow-being  from  an  ignominious  death  upon  the  scaf- 
fold, and  an  innocent  and  interesting  family  from  penury  and 
degradation.  He  came  to  the  conclusion,  after  consulting  with- 
associate  counsel,  that  it  would  be  possible  to  defend  Pigg  suc- 
cessfully upon  the  ground  that  when  he  committed  the  act  of 
killing,  he  was  not  in  a  state  of  sanity,  but  non  compos  mentis. 
I  do  not  suppose  that  more  extraordinary  pains  were  ever 
taken  than  were  now  put  in  use  in  order  to  make  out,  if  possi- 
ble, this  difficult  species  of  defence.  Judge  Mayes  argued  the 
case,  when  the  day  of  trial  came,  at  much  length,  with  infinite 
earnestness,  and  with  more  even  than  his  wonted  address  and 
plausibility.  To  the  jury,  which  was  one  of  uncommon  in- 
telligence, he  explained  in  the  most  lucid  manner  the  complex 
organization  of  the  human  brain,  and  the  various  causes  by 
which  it  was  subject  to  be  injuriously  affected.  He  drew 
illustrations  from  Locke,  from  Spurzheim,  from  Comb  and 
other  writers  of  profundity.  He  read  copious  extracts  from 
the  standard  works  on  medical  jurisprudence,  and  applied 
them  all  most  felicitously  to  the  case  under  trial.  He  quoted 
a  pa^-agraph  or  two  from  Erskine's  celebrated  speech  in  de- 
fence of  Hadfield.  He  urged  most  warmly  and  earnestly 
that  the  defence  of  insanity  had  been  fully  made  out.  He  then 
took  a  view  of  the  defendant's  previous  good  character ;  en- 
larged upon  his  many  good  qualities,  his  kindness  of  heart, 
his  valorous  and  patriotic  conduct  in  defending  his  country 
against  a  foreign  invading  army ;  insisting  that  the  grievous 
responsibilities  which  he  was  now  caljed  upon  to  meet  were 


52       BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

the  result  of  injuries  received  in  that  country's  service ;  and 
wound  up  with  a  pathetic  and  soul-moving  appeal  to  the  jury 
in  behalf  of  his  unhappy  family,  several  of  whom  he  pointed 
out  as  then  in  court  awaiting  the  result  of  the  trial.  The 
defendant  was  not  convicted  of  murder;  but  the  jury,  under 
such  instructions  as  they  received  from  the  court,  could  not 
avoid  finding  him  guilty  of  manslaughter. 

Here  I  will  for  the  present  cease  to  occupy  the  attention  of 
the  readers  of  the   Southern    Law   Review.     Should  this 
attempt  to  amuse  them  be  at  all  successful,  it  is  not  improb- 
able they  may  hear  from  me  again ;  meanwhile,  I  may  say  to 
them,  one  and  all,  in  relation  to  these  hasty  and  somewhat 
experimental  lucubrations,  in  the  language  of  modern  poesy : 
"If  in  your  memories  dwell 
A  thought  which  once  was  mine,  if  on  ye  swell 
A  single  recollection,  not  in  vain 
I've  worn  my  sandal  shoon,  and  scallop-shell ; 
Farewell !  with  me  alone  may  rest  the  pain, 
If  such  there  were — with  you  the  moral  of  my  strain." 


CHAPTER  III. 

General  Remarks  upon  the  Legal  Profession. — Extraordinary  Influx  of  Lawyers 
into  Mississippi  about  Forty  Years  Ago, — Recompense  of  Attorneys. — Views  of 
Quintilian  on  this  Subject. — William  L.  Sharkey. — His  Powers  as  an  Advocate. — 
His  Conservatism  of  Temper  and  Character. — His  lamentable  Decease. 

Having  heretofore  made  mention  of  that  remarkable  mi- 
gration to  the  state  of  Mississippi  of  barristers  from  other 
states  of  the  Union — a  Httle  anterior  to  the  close  of  the  fourth 
decade  of  the  present  century — and  having  also  stated  as  one 
of  the  causes  of  this  memorable  aggregation  of  professional 
ability,  the  anterior  purchase  by  the  general  government  of 
that  wide  domain  held  by  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  tribes 
of  Indians,  it  may  not  be  amiss  here  to  bring  to  view  an  ad 
ditional  cause  of  the  flocking  to  this  fertile  and  attractive  re- 
gion of  such  a  prodigious  number  of  attorneys  in  quest  of 
fame  and  fortune,  both  of  which,  they  had  reason  to  hope, 
might  be  here  acquired  more  easily  than  elsewhere. 

When  the  stern  and  inflexible  virtue  of  a  sagacious  and 
enlightened  chief  magistrate,  the  leading  measures  of  whose 
eventful  administration  will  long  continue  to  attract  the 
thoughtful  and  scrutinizing  attention  of  his  countrymen,  in- 
terposed, by  the  heroic  exercise  of  the  veto  power,  an  insu- 
perable obstacle  to  the  re-charter  of  the  famous  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  the  noxious  influence  of  which  upon  the  poli- 
tics and  morals  of  an  eterprising  commercial  people  had  be- 
gun to  be  painfully  realized,  the  state  banks  existing  at  this 
period  having  been  made  the  depositories  of  the  money  of 
the  Federal  government,  were,  in  this  new  capacity,  coun- 
selled in  a  manner  which  could  not  but  prove  effectual,  to 
emit,  as  soon  as  possible,  adequate  amounts  of  their  own  paper 
circulation,  to  supply  that  deficiency  in  the  accustomed  me- 
dium of  exchange  expected  to  be  realized,  and  save  the  country 
from  the  deleterious  effects  of  an  over-sudden  contraction 
which  might  otherwise  result  from  the  rapid  withdrawal  of  the 
issues  of  that  huge  institution  which  had  so  long  dominated 
over  all  the  concerns  of  trade  and  business.  The  vast  amounts 


54       BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  .AND  SOUTHWEST. 

of  State  bank  circulation  which  soon  inundated  the  land,  im- 
parted such  a  stimulus  to  moneyed  enterprises  of  every  de- 
scription, and  awakened  such  an  extravagant  spirit  of  specu- 
lation everywhere,  and  especially  in  the  new  cotton  states  of 
the  southwest,  that  some  check  to  this  rapidly  growing  evil 
was  deemed  expedient,  and  the  celebrated  Treasury  Circular 
made  its  appearance,  which  quickly  brought  on  such  mone- 
tary re-action,  as  to  spread  almost  universal  bankruptcy 
throughout  a  region  where  the  hopes  of  countless  wealth,  be- 
yond all  that  is  told  even  in  tales  of  romance,  had  become,  by 
the  action  of  the  causes  specified,  almost  universally  diffused. 
Such  a  scene  of  distress,  devastation  and  confusion  as  was 
now  unfolded,  no  language  could  adequately  portray.  Uni- 
versal loss  of  confidence  ensued.  The  deposit  banks  were 
swept  out  of  existence  as  by  a  whirlwind.  All  the  state 
banks  had  been  imitating  their  example  in  deluging  the  land 
with  irredeemable  paper,  and  had  to  share  their  fate.  The 
commission  merchants  of  New  Orleans  were  compelled,  in 
great  numbers,  to  close  their  business  houses,  and  call  in  the 
vast  sums  which  they  had  been  liberally  supplying  to  their 
customers  in  the  cotton-planting  region,  and  upon  which  they 
had  been  realizing  large  commissions.  The  wholesale  mer- 
cantile houses  of  the  North  and  East,  and  who  had  sold  enor- 
mous amounts  of  goods  on  credit  to  almost  all  who  chose  to 
apply  for  them,  naturally  enough  participated  in  the  general 
moneyed  panic,  and  vehemently  demanded  of  their  numerous 
local  customers  the  immediate  payment  of  what  was  due 
them.  This  could,  in  general,  only  be  effected  by  the  general 
transfer  of  claims  against  those  who  had  been  dealing  with 
them  in  a  manner  so  extravagant  as  almost  to  indicate  a  sup- 
position on  their  part  that  the  day  of  payment  would  never 
come.  The  courts  began  to  be  filled  with  suits  of  almost 
every  description.  Rumors  soon  went  abroad  that  lawyers 
in  Mississippi  were  far  too  few  in  number  to  cope  with  the  liti- 
gation in  progress,  and  that  many  of  them  were  rapidly  ac- 
cumulating over-grown  fortunes.  The  effect  of  such  intelli- 
gence as  this  was  almost  electrical ;  it  was  really  almost  like 
the    letting,  loose  of  an  avalanche  from  some  lofty  Alpine 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  55 

height.  Attorneys  came  in  great  numbers  almost  by  every 
stage-coach  which  came  into  the  state,  and  by  every  steamer 
which  descended  the  Mississippi  river.  Many  came  only  with 
an  intention  of  sojourping  in  the  land  of  promise  for  a  short 
period,  leaving  their  families  behind  them,  whilst  others  came 
to  take  up  a  permanent  residence.  Many  of  these  new  comers 
were  men  of  learning  and  worth,  and  deserved  all  the  success 
which  they  afterwards  achieved.  If  there  were  a  few  others 
of  a  different  'description,  the  fact  is  not  at  all  to  be  wondered 
at.  That,  in  such  a  state  of  things  as  has  been  described,  too 
much  avidity  for  the  accumulation  of  wealth  should  have,  to 
some  extent,  made  itself  apparent  even  among  the  members 
of  the  legal  profession  in  Mississippi ;  that  sometimes  fees 
were  demanded  to  an  amount  a  good  deal  beyond  the  ser- 
vices actually  rendered ;  and  that  there  were  instances  of  gross 
oppression  in  the  collection  of  money  by  execution,  should, 
perhaps,  occasion  no  great  surprise.  That  attorneys  chiefly 
representing  non-resident  clients  should  have  occasionally 
shown  but  little  commiseration  for  debtors  wholly  unknown 
to  them  personally,  was,  perhaps,  to  have  been  expected ;  and 
that  here  and  there  large  and  valuable  estates  should  be  exposed 
to  sale,  under  sheriff's  or  marshal's  ^-Kccniion,  for  gold  a7id 
silver,  when  these  commodities  were  almost  impossible  to  be 
obtained  in  the  community,  are  melancholy  facts  belonging 
to  the  history  of  the  past,  which  should,  perhaps,  be  more 
grieved  over  than  harshly  condemned.  It  must  be  confessed, 
though,  that  occasionally  a  certain  class  of  cold-blooded 
collecting  attorneys  were  known  to  put  in  exercise  all  the 
harsher  expedients  known  to  the  law  in  cases  where  a 
little  more  humanity  and  moderation  towards  the  unfortu- 
nate defendants,  whom  circumstances  had  thrown  into  their 
power,  would  have  comported  better  with  the  dignity  of  the 
legal  profession,  and  have  been  equally  advantageous  to  those 
in  whose  service  they  were  enlisted.  I  shall  not  enlarge  upon 
this  prolific  theme;  though  many  scenes  of  pecuniary  suffer- 
ing at  this  distressful  period,  arising  to  some  extent,  from  the 
causes  just  specified,  are  still  held  by  me  in  painful  and  humil- 
iating remembrance.     I  may  be  pardoned,  though,  for  here 


$6      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

adding  that  attorneys  who  chance  to  be  almost  absolute 
strangers  in  the  community  where  they  are  employed  to  en- 
force the  collection  of  claims  held  by  non-resident  creditors, 
may,  in  general,  be  expected  to  display  somewhat  more  of 
vigilance  and  activity,  than  the  same  lawyers  would  evince  if 
seeking  to  secure  the  payment  of  debts  owing  by  persons 
long  known  to  them  by  multiplied  acts  of  civility  and  kind- 
ness. Certain  it  is,  either  for  the  reasons  suggested,  or  for 
some  others  not  easy  to  be  discovered,  the  greater  part  of  the 
business  of  collection  fell  into  the  hands  of  attorneys  who  had 
not  been  long  resident  in  the  distressed  and  bankrupt  com- 
munity in  whose  midst  they  now  had  duties  imposed  upon 
them  from  which,  with  their  attendant  profits,  I  have  before 
now  known  lawyers  of  a  certain  generous  strain,  and  more 
desirous  of  securing  forensic  fame  than  of  filling  their  pockets 
with  money,  instinctively  to  recoil. 

In  bringing  these  preliminary  remarks  to  a  close,  the  grave 
and  interesting  question  seems  naturally  to  suggest  itself: 
Whether,  upon  the  whole,  it  might  not  be  better  for  society, 
were  the  existence  of  no  class  of  persons  tolerated,  the  mem- 
bers of  which  should  be  recognized  as  entitled  by  law  to 
claim  pecuniary  recompense  for  services,  the  rendition  of 
which,  in  some  instances,  would  seem  to  array  them  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  sound  administration  of  justice  and  law,  and 
therefore  against  the  best  and  highest  interests  of  the  com- 
munity itself  There  is  certainly  something  very  noble  in 
the  utterance  of  truth,  and  in  the  exercise  of  honesty  with- 
out any  expectation  of  requital,  save  the  approval  of  con- 
science and  the  applause  of  the  virtuous  members  of  society. 
If  it  be  one's  duty  to  speak  the  truth  always,  it  may  be  plaus- 
ibly argued  that  it  can  never  be  creditable  to  assert  falsehood. 
If  perfect  fairness  and  sincerity  are  required  by  ever)'  sound 
system  of  morals,  it  may  be  rather  difficult  to  show  under 
what  circumstances  it  can  be  justifiable,  for  the  gratification  ^ 
of  mere  mercenary  motives,  to  act  in  conscious  disregard  of 
them  both.  To  deprive  the  widow  of  her  mite,  and  the  or- 
phan of  his  inheritance,  because  one  is  paid  for  these  feats, 
it  might  puzzle  either  an  Aristoie  or  a  Plato  to  vindicate.    To 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.       57 

labor  for  the  acquittal  of  some  notorious  violator  of  that  law, 
upon  the  firm  and  steady  maintenance  of  which  the  peace 
and  well-being  of  the  community  depend,  seems,  in  a  certain 
subtle  point  of  view,  to  liken  itself  very  closely  to  the  be- 
coming accessory  to  crime  after  it  shall  have  been  committed. 
To  minds  given  to  super-sublimated  reflection,  the  idea  might 
occur  that  at  the  dread  moment  when  we  shall  stand  before 
the  great  Searcher  of  Hearts,  it  might  turn  out  to  be  an  in- 
sufficient apology,  when  charged  with  upholding  the  guilty 
of  this  world,  or  cruelly  harrassing  the  virtuous  or  unfor- 
tunate, that  the  culprit  was  one  of  an  honorable  and  learned 
fraternity  to  whom  these  things  had  been  regarded  as  allow- 
able. Without  going  more  deeply  into  these  matters  at  pres- 
ent, I  shall  venture  to  say  that,  could  it  be  satisfactorily  de- 
monstrated that  all  the  offices  now  expected  to  be  discharged 
by  attorneys,  were  at  all  likely  to  be  skilfully  and  beneficially 
attended  to  by  some  other  body  of  functionaries  from  whom 
all  prospect  of  pecuniary  recompense  should  be  withheld,  it  is 
quite  probable  that  but  little  diversity  of  opinion  upon  this 
long-disputed  topic  would  be  anywhere  apparent;  and  it,  per- 
haps, may  be  safely  admitted  that  the  very  highest  evidence 
of  advanced  social  culture  and  refinement  which  any  civilized 
people  could  possibly  supply,  would  be  the  present  or  future 
realization  of  that  far-famed  theory  of  gratuitous  forensic  ex- 
ertion, boastfully  asserted  to  have  had  existence  in  the  purer 
days  of  the  Roman  republic,  when  (as  is  reported  to  us)  the 
venerable  sages  of  the  law,  the  Catos,the  Scaevolas  and  the 
rest,  daily  came  from  their  unostentatious  residences  and 
made  their  appearance  in  the  Forum,  as  a  token  that  they  stood 
ready  to  bestow  jurisprudential  advice,  free  of  chai-ge,  to  such 
of  their  fellow  citizens  as  chose  to  apply  to  them  for  aid. 
Whether  this  Christian  world  of  ours  is  ever  to  know  a  time 
when  lawyers  shall  become  regardless  of  fees,  and  advocates 
be  found  willing  to  undertake  the  prosecution  of  the  guilty  or 
the  defence  of  the  innocent,  merely  for  "  the  luxury  of  doing 
good,"  is  a  question  which  must  be  left  to  future  generations 
to  decide.  But  I  trust  that  there  are  some  even  of  the  legal 
fraternity  among  ourselves  who  will  agree  with  me  in  approv- 


58      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

ing  what  an  illustrious  Roman  advocate,  (Quintilian)  has 
said  in  his  immortal  work  on  rhetoric.  His  language  is  as 
follows : 

"  Whether  an  orator  ought  always  to  plead  gratuitously,  is 
a  question  which  admits  of  discussion,  and  which  it  would 
be  mere  inconsiderateness  to  decide  at  once,  and  without  re- 
flection ;  for  who  is  ignorant  that  it  is  by  far  the  more  honor- 
able, and  more  worthy  of  the  liberal  acts  and  of  the  feelings 
which  we  expect  to  find  in  an  orator,  not  to  set  a  price  on  his 
efforts  and  thus  lower  the  estimation  of  so  great  a  blessing  as 
eloquence,  as  many  things  seem  worthless  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world  for  no  other  reason  than  that  they  may  be  purchased. 
This,  as  the  saying  is,  is  clear  enough  even  to  the  blind  ;  nor 
will  any  pleader  who  has  but  a  competency  for  himself  (and 
a  little  will  suffice  for  a  competency)  make  a  gain  of  his  art 
without  incurring  a  charge  of  meanness.  But  if  his  circum- 
stances demand  something  more  for  his  necessary  require- 
ments than  he  actually  possesses,  he  may,  according  to  the 
opinions  of  all  wise  men,  allow  a  recompense  to  be  made  him; 
since  contributions  were  even  raised  for  the  support  of  So- 
crates ;  and  Zeno,  Cleanthes,  and  Chrysippus  took  fees  from 
their  scholars.  Nor  do  I  see  any  more  honorable  way  of 
gaining  a  support  than  by  the  practice  of  a  noble  profession, 
and  by  receiving  a  remuneration  from  those  whom  we  have 
served,  and  who,  if  they  made  no  return  would  be  unworthy 
of  delence.  Such  a  return,  indeed,  is  not  only  just,  but  nec- 
essary, as  the  very  labor  and  time  devoted  to  other  people's 
business  precludes  all  possibility  of  making  profit  by  any 
other  means.  But  in  this  respect,  also,  moderatio?i  is  to  be 
observed ;  and  it  makes  a  great  difference  from  whom  an 
orator  receives  fees,  and  how  .many,  and  for  how  long  a  time. 
The  rapacious  practice  of  making  bargains,  and  the  detestable 
traffic  of  those  who  ask  a  price  proportionate  to  the  risk  of 
their  clients,  will  never  be  adopted  even  by  such  as  are  but 
moderately  honest,  especially  when  he  who  defends  good 
men  and  good  causes  has  no  reason  to  fear  that  any  one  he 
defends  will  be  ungrateful ;  or,  if  such  should  be  the  case,  I 
had  rather  that  the  client  should  be  in  fault  than  the  pleader. 


BENCH    AND   BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  5^ 

The  orator,  therefore,  will  entertain  no  desire  of  gaining  more 
than  shall  be  just  sufficient,  and,  even  if  he  be  poor,  he  will 
not  receive  anything  as  pay,  but  will  consider  it  only  as  an 
acknowledgment  of  service,  being  conscious  that  he  has 
conferred  much  more  than  he  receives.  Benefits  of  such  a 
nature,  because  they  are  not  to  be  sold,  are  not  to  be  thrown 
away;  and  it  belongs  to  the  obliged  party  to  show  gratitude." 

One  can  scarcely  avoid  feeling  some  surprise  that  views  so 
pure  and  exalted  should  have  found  utterance  in  hearing  of 
the  Roman  youth  during  the  reign  of  the  infamous  Domitian 
— at  a  period  when  the  depravation  of  morals  was  so  deep- 
seated  and  incurable — and  when  swarms  of  unprincipled  in- 
formers had  rendered  life  an  almost  intolerable  burden,  and- 
freedom  of  speech  an  experiment  almost  the  precursor  of 
death.  But  even  at  that  moment  Tacitus  and  the  younger 
Pliny  were  daily  enunciating  speeches  to  which  Cicero  or  the 
elder  Cato  would  have  been  delighted  to  listen,  and  the  ethical 
teachings  of  Seneca  were  read  and  admired  in  all  the  fashion- 
able resorts  of  relaxation  and  luxury.  The  principles  of  a 
high-toned  and  expansive  system  of  equity  were  even  then- 
expounded,  both  in  courts  of  judicature  and  in  the  public 
schools  of  that  period,  by  able  and  eloquent  advocates  and 
professed  lecturers,  who  aspired  to  maintain  in  unsullied 
purity  the  dignity  of  that  forum  where  Crassus  and  Antonius^. 
Cicero  and  Brutus  had  been  once  the  most  distinguished  or- 
naments. 

It  would  be  but  doing  simple  justice  to  the  bench  and  bar 
of  Mississippi,  during  the  period  which  elapsed  from  1830  to- 
i860,  to  assert  that  no  state  of  the  Union  could  then  boast  of 
an  abler  and  more  incorruptible  judiciary,  or  a  greater  number 
of  lawyers  and  advocates  of  deep  legal  learning,  of  brilliant  and 
effective  eloquence  and  of  pure  and  unimpeachable  morals.  The 
election  of  judicial  officers  of  every  grade  by  the  people,  was 
productive  of  no  such  deleterious  effects  as  many  had  predicted. 
Neither  party  influence  nor  mercenary  considerations  of  any 
kind  were  known,  in  any  very  marked  instance,  to  cause  the 
popular  vote  to  be  concentrated  upon  an  ignorant  and  corrupt 
aspirant  over  an  opponent  of  superior  probity  and  learning.. 


6o      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

The  ordinary  devices  of  political  electioneering  were  seldom 
resorted  to,  and  never  to  the  advantage  of  him  who  thus  dis- 
honored his  own  character.  In  the  exercise  of  their  noble 
calling,  the  members  of  the  bar  were  almost  uniformly  up- 
right, frank,  and  manly ;  vigilant  and  energetic,  but  courteous 
and  accommodating ;  disdaining  to  succeed  in  any  case  by 
mere  trick  or  chicane;  and  sacredly  observant  of  all  the  en- 
gagements they  assumed,  or  agreements  into  which  *  they 
•entered  with  opposing  attorneys,  whether  these  were  oral  or 
reduced  to  writing. 

The  shortness  of  the  terms  of  judicial  service  provided  by 
the  constitution  of  the  state  was  supposed  to  be  attended 
with  more  or  less  disadvantage.  The  judicial  incumbents  of 
any  given  period  having  no  satisfactory  assurance  of  being 
re-elected  when  their  respective  periods  of  official  service 
should  expire,  and  this  being  necessarily  dependent,  to  some 
extent,  upon  contingencies  impossible  to  be  anticipated,  were 
naturally  inclined  to  regard  themselves  more  as  members  of 
that  forensic  brotherhood,  from  the  bosom  of  which  they  had 
so  recently  emerged,  and  to  which,  in  all  probability,  they 
would  soon  return,  than  as  constituting  a  class  of  functiona- 
ries whose  business  it  would  be,  so  long  as  they  might  hold 
•connection  with  the  scenes  of  public  life,  to  fit  themselves 
more  and  more  thoroughly  for  the  high  task  of  ascertaining  the 
true  state  of  the  law,  and  of  enunciating  it  in  all  its  fullness  and 
purity  when  thus  ascertained — cultivating  with  ever-increas- 
ing assiduity  a  passionless  impartiality — and  steadily  up- 
holding principle  in  disregard  of  all  the  demands  of  personal, 
political,  or  local  expediency.  It  has  always  seemed  to  me 
that  the  judges,  in  every  country  desirous  of  having  an  en- 
lightened and  reliable  judiciary,  should  be  allowed  to  hold 
their  offices  during  good  behavior,  be  liberally  paid  for  their 
•official  services,  and  prohibited,  after  being  once  seated  on 
the  bench,  from  ever  again  enlisting  in  the  practice  of  the  law. 
Unless  some  such  arrangement  as  this  shall  be  adopted,  it 
is  plain  that  many  inconveniences  may  result,  some  of  which 
■experience  in  several  of  our  states  has  already  brought  quite 
•conspicuously  to  view.     Fortunately  for  the  state  of  Missis- 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST,  6 1 

sippi,  no  instance  ever  arose,  during  the  space  of  time  to 
which  these  observations  are  intended  to  apply,  in  which  an 
individual  occupying  at  the  moment  a  place  upon  the  bench, 
ever  took  upon  himself  the  character  of  an  advocate,  or 
called  upon  some  other  attorney  to  preside  in  his  place,  whilst 
he  should  address  him  from  the  bar  in  favor  of  the  interests 
of  some  cherished  client,  a  decision  in  favor  of  whom  he  was 
solicitous  of  securing  by  the  exercise  of  his  own  powers  of 
forensic  persuasion.  I  hold  it  to  be  absolutely  certain  that 
no  judicial  officer  can  often  set  this  unfortunate  example  with- 
out losing  more  or  less  of  his  dignity  as  a  selected  expositor 
of  the  law.  It  is  impossible  that  he  can  play  Mansfield  or 
Erskine,  as  his  occasions  may  require.  To  be  thoroughly  con- 
fided in  and  venerated  as  a  judge,  he  must  altogether  avoid 
the  excited  contests  of  the  forum.  It  is  much  to  be  feared 
that  a  judge  acting  this  part — if,  under  such  trying  circum- 
stances, he  is  able  to  preserve  unimpaired  the  true  judicial 
temper — will  not  be  so  fortunate  as  to  escape  misconstruction 
as  to  his  motives  and  character,  which  can  not  but  be  seriously 
prejudicial  to  his  official  usefulness. 

I  well  remember  that  a  little  more  than  thirty  years  ago  a 
highly  respectable  member  of  the  General  Court  of  Virginia,, 
chancing  to  be  on  a  visit  to  the  state  of  Mississippi,  took  part 
in  the  trial  of  a  cause  of  great  interest  in  which  an  early  and 
respected  female  friend  was  a  party.  He  made  an  admirable 
argument  for  his  client,  and  was  much  praised  by  all  who 
listened  to  his  speech  in  her  behalf,  for  his  eloquence  and 
learning;  but  the  fame  of  this  exploit  reached  the  heart  of 
the  ancient  dominion,  and  produced  the  most  vehement  com- 
plaints of  conduct  deemed  so  un-judge-like,  and  the  personage 
in  question  very  narrowly  escaped  the  experience  of  an  im~ 
peachmetit. 

But  let  us  return  to  our  immediate  theme.  It  has  now 
been  a  little  more  than  two  years  since,  just  as  I  was  depart- 
ing upon  a  journey  to  the  Pacific  coast,  I  beheld  upon  the  bed 
of  disease  the  prostrate  form  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
and  interesting  men  I  have  ever  known.  I  allude  to  the  Hon. 
William  L.  Sharkey ;  who,  for  so  long  a  pqriod  of  years,  had 


62  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

been  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  bar  of  Mississippi,  and 
who  had  presided  as  chief  justice  of  her  High  Court  of  Errors 
and  Appeals  longer  than  any  other  individual  has  ever  been 
known  to  do.  I  took  an  affectionate  leave  of  my  dying  and 
honored  friend,  with  no  hope  at  all  of  ever  beholding  him 
again  in  this  life.  He  died  .a  few  days  after,  profoundly  re- 
gretted by  all  who  have  known  him  sufficiently  to  be  able  to 
appreciate  his  merits,  and,  as  I  confidently  believe,  without 
leaving  a  single  enemy  behind  him.  Judge  Sharkey  was  a 
man  of  many  shining  and  impressive  traits  of  character.  I  held 
cordial  and  intimate  intercouse  with  him  for  more  than  forty 
years,  and  have  repeatedly  seen  him  under  circumstances 
well  calculated  to  test  the  strength  of  his  understanding, 
and  of  his  exalted  sense  of  self-respect.  I  never  knew  a 
person  of  more  integrity  and  honor ;  nor  one  whose  general 
course  of  life  was  more  blameless  and  worthy  of  commenda- 
tion. His  mind  was  one  of  singular  elasticity  and  vigor,  and 
he  had  all  its  powers  completely  under  his  control.  He  was 
profoundly  acquainted  with  law  as  a  science,  and  exceedingly 
delighted  in  the  examination  of  legal  questions  of  particular 
importance  and  difficulty.  He  was  a  ready,  ingenious,  and 
impressive  speaker  ;  possessed  of  a  majestic  and  commanding 
person ;  a  clear,  pleasant,  and  sonorous  voice ;  graceful  and 
appropriate  gesticulation ;  and  his  countenance  was  ever  lit 
up  and  made  resplendent  with  the  mingled  rays  of  reason 
and  sentiment.  He  was  never  affected,  churlish,  ostentatious 
or  pedantic;  always  expressed  himself  in  language  simple, 
natural  and  idiomatic  ;  was  never  unduly  prolix  in  discussion, 
nor  ever  coarsely  boisterous  or  dogmatical.  His  manner  in 
speaking  was  in  general  marked  with  solemnity  and  earnest- 
ness, but  he  occasionally  indulged  in  a  humorous  allusion,  or 
in  the  relation  of  some  pleasant  and  characteristic  anecdote ; 
but  no  man  was  ever  less  inclined  than  he  was  to  be  disre- 
spectfully sneerful  or  unamiably  sarcastic.  He  was  indebted 
to  a  respectable  institution  in  the  state  of  Tennessee  for 
whatever  of  education  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  receive  in 
youth  and  opening  manhood ;  but  he  is  understood  never  to 
have  become  familiar  with  the  ancient  classic  languages,  or  to 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  63 

have  given  more  than  ordinary  attention  to  the  more  recon- 
dite departments  of  science.  His  stock  of  general  reading 
was  considerable ;  he  was  well  versed  in  both  ancient  and 
modern  history,  and  was  one  of  the  best  informed  politicians 
with  whom  I  was  ever  acquainted.  He  had  mingled  freely 
in  society,  and  possessed  a  knowledge  of  human  nature  seldom 
surpassed.  In  social  intercourse  he  was  easy  and  familiar ; 
not  in  the  least  degree  either  assuming  or  austere,  and  ever 
carefully  withheld  himself  from  coarse  and  disreputable  com- 
panionship. He  was  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  Vicks- 
burg  bar  so  long  as  he  continued  in  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession, and  enjoyed  a  lucrative  practice  up  to  the  period  of 
his  advancement  to  the  bench.  Judge  Sharkey  held  the 
office  of  Chief  Justice  of  the  High  Court  of  Errors  and  Ap- 
peals in  Mississippi  far  longer  than  any  other  person  has  been 
known  to  do,  and  during  his  period  of  judicial  service  deliv- 
ered a  series  of  opinions  upon  questions  of  commercial,  crim- 
inal, and  constitutional  law,  which  have  been  for  many  years 
of  great  authority  in  every  state  of  the  Union.  In  the  prep- 
aration of  his  opinions  he  employed  much  care,  and  when  he 
enunciated  them  from  the  bench  in  his  own  animated  and 
emphatic  manner,  no  one  was  in  hearing  of  his  voice  who  was 
not  interested  and  edified.  The  understanding  and  temper  oi 
this  admirable  man  were  both  of  an  eminently  conservative 
cast ;  he  was  much  given  to  the  reading  of  the  scriptures  and 
to  the  study  of  ethical  works  of  a  cheerful  and  inspiring  char- 
acter; was  singularly  patient  and  forbearing  even  towards 
those  who  had  intentionally  wronged  him,  and  ever  made  a 
liberal  allowance  for  the  infirmities  inseparable  from  human 
nature.  He  was  averse  to  all  sudden  and  extreme  changes  in 
the  constitution  and  laws ;  had  an  almost  morbid  dread  of 
popular  outbreaks  and  excesses;  and  strongly  disapproved  of 
all  movements,  with  whomsoever  originating,  and  by  whom- 
soever conducted,  which  looked  ever  so  remotely  to  the  dis- 
solution of  the  Federal  Union.  The  character  of  Washing- 
ton he  held  in  special  veneration,  and  the  counsels  of  his 
celebrated  Farewell  Address  he  recognized  as  constituting 
the  true  palladium  of  our  national  safety  and  felicity.     In  the 


64  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.       . 

year  1850,  as  president  of  the  celebrated  Nashville  conven- 
tion, he  evinced  a  mingled  courage  and  wisdom  which  tended 
much  to  calm  the  excitement  of  that  body,  and  commanded 
the  respect  of  all  true  lovers  of  their  country.  A  short  time 
subsequent  to  the  adjournment  of  this  convention,  Judge 
Sharkey  paid  a  visit  to  Washington  City,  where  he  found 
Congress  in  session,  and  had  an  opportunity  of  making  valu- 
able suggestions  which  had  no  little  effect  at  the  time  in  sup- 
pressing sectional  excitement  and  in  allaying  rising  discon- 
tents. Whilst  in  Washington,  President  Fillmore,  through 
Mr.  Webster,  in  a  singularly  complimentary  manner,  tendered 
him  the  position  of  secretary  of  war ;  but  he  declined  the 
proffered  honor  promptly  and  respectfully;  alleging,  with 
characteristic  modesty,  his  own  want  of  qualification  for  this 
high  place,  by  reason  of  his  not  having  before  had  that  kind 
of  experience  which  he  deemed  requisite  to  the  successful  ad- 
ministration of  this  important  office.  The  fact  is  known  to 
me  personally  that  he  even  left  Washington  City  somewhat 
precipitately,  in  order  to  avoid  further  solicitation  on  this  sub- 
ject. His  known  devotion  to  the  Union  and  aversion  to  un- 
called-for civil  strife  exposed  him  to  no  little  discomfort  and 
harassment  during  the  late  most  deplorable  sectional  conflict ; 
but  those  lofty  attributes  of  character  which  all  knew  him  to 
possess,  and  his  patient  and  dignified  conduct  throughout 
that  trying  period,  caused. him  to  be  loved  and  respected  by 
all  virtuous  and  well-intending  citizens  far  more  than  he  had 
ever  been  before ;  and  when  the  clash  of  arms  at  last  ceased 
to  be  heard  in  the  land,  and  the  people  of  Mississippi  were 
seeking  to  be  reconciled  to  the  government  against  which 
they  had  been  arrayed,  and  to  be  re-admitted  into  that  sister- 
hood of  states  from  which  they  had  for  a  time  severed  their 
connection,  it  was  under  the  counsel  and  leadership  of  this 
venerable  and  trusted  personage  that  these  desirable  objects 
were  ultimately  attained.  As  provisional  governor  of  Mis- 
sissippi and  as  a  senator-elect  to  Congress,  Judge  Shar- 
key attracted  in  a  particular  manner  the  general  attention  of 
his  countrymen,  and  could  his  voice  have  been  then  heard  in 
that  "  more  than  Amphyctionic  council  "  of  sovereign  states. 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.       65 

and  his  sage  counsels  been  listened  to,  the  sublime  work  of 
national  pacification,  since  so  happily  realized,  would,  in  all 
probability  have  been  much  earlier  effected. 

Whilst  Judge  Sharkey  was  yet  at  the  bar,  I  had  once  or  twice 
the  honor  of  being  associated  with  him  in  the  trial  of  capital 
cases  of  no  little  importance,  on  which  occasions,  as  senior 
counsel,  he  manifested,  in  a  manner  which  I  can  never  forget, 
all  that  tact  and  discriminating  judgment  which  distinguished 
him,  and  in  discussion  evinced  powers  of  which  no  advocate 
that  I  have  known  need  have  been  ashamed. 

Many  persons  yet  surviving  in  Mississippi  remember  Judge 
Sharkey's  earnest  and  energetic  opposition  to  the  election  of 
judges  by  popular  suffrage,  when  it  was  first  proposed  to  in- 
corporate a  provision  for  this  purpose  in  the  new  constitution 
of  the  state,  then  about  being  adopted  ;  yet  it  is  a  circum- 
stance worthy  of  rtote,  and  one  demonstrating  conclusively  his 
standing  and  popularity  at  that  time,  that  he  afterwards  be- 
came the  first  Chief  Justice  of  the  state  under  the  new  sys- 
tem of  judicial  election.  In  subsequent  years  several  grave 
constitutional  questions  arose  for  the  decision  of  that  tribunal 
in  which  he  was  then  presiding.  On  one  of  these  occasions 
the  alleged  invalidity  of  what  were  known  as  the  Union  Bank 
bonds  was  expected  to  come  up  for  consideration  ;  and,  though 
it  was  well  known  everywhere  that  he  regarded  these  bonds 
as  obligatory  upon  the  state,  and  though  a  majority  of  the 
voters  in  his  judicial  district  were  undeniably  opposed  to  be- 
ing taxed  for  the  payment  of  the  same,  yet  was  he  triumph- 
antly re-elected  over  the  opposing  candidate,  though  the  latter 
was  a  jurist  of  undoubted  learning  and  ability,  and  had  form- 
ally pledged  himself,  if  elected,  to  decide  the  bonds  to  be 
invalid.  In  this  contest  Judge  Sharkey  delivered  a  number 
of  popular  addresses  in  which  he  boldly  defended  his  own 
views  upon  this  subject,  and  remonstrated  with  his  fellow  citi- 
zens in  the  most  eloquent  and  convincing  manner  against  the 
repudiation  of  the  pledged  faith  of  the  state  at  that  time  pro- 
posed. The  result  of  the  contest  was  alike  creditable  to  those 
by  whom  Judge  Sharkey  was  re-elected  and  to  himself 

Judge  Sharkey  had  been  occupying  a  place  upon  the  bench 


66  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF    SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

some  three  or  four  years,  when  he  was  fated  to  pass  through 
one  of  the  severest  ordeals  which  any  public  man  has  had  to 
encounter.  The  celebrated  book  of  Stewart,  in  which  Murrell 
and  his  associates  were  charged  with  having  set  on  foot  a 
scheme  of  negro  insurrection,  which  it  was  asserted  looked  to 
the  general  destruction  of  the  white  population  of  the  South, 
had  reached  the  state  of  Mississippi  and  had  awakened  the  most 
wide-spead  excitement  and  alarm.  The  more  densely  settled 
counties  of  middle  Mississippi,  it  was  apprehended,  would  be 
soon  laid  waste  and  ruined.  The  people  were  apprehending 
that  all  the  unnamable  horrors  of  servile  revolt  would  soon 
blaze  forth  among  them  in  the  most  aggravated  form.  Stew- 
art himself  had  been  received  at  the  capital  of  the  state  and 
elsewhere  in  the  most  enthusiastic  manner,  and  public  honors 
had  been  accorded  him  such  as  the  most  illustrious  benefac- 
tors of  the  human  race  have  seldom  enjoyed.  A  fine  horse 
was  purchased  and  presented  to  him,  and  he  became  the  re- 
cipient of  many  costly  presents  besides.  In  a  short  time  the 
whole  country  became  thoroughly  convulsed.  Large  public 
meetings  occurred,  and  the  most  elaborate  preparations  were 
made  to  meet  the  multitudinous  foe.  In  a  number  of  coun- 
ties, vigilance  committees,  or  committees  of  safety  (as  they 
were  sometimes  called)  were  organized,  and  efficient  instru- 
mentalities of  every  kind  provided,  by  means  of  which  sus- 
pected persons  were  to  be  apprehended  and  brought  to  trial. 
Such  a  trial  was  quite  sure  to  result  in  speedy  conviction  and 
execution,  without  the  benefit  of  jury  trial,  or  the  privilege 
of  habeas  corpus.  The  popular  mind  was  in  such  a  diseased 
and  phrenzied  condition  that  nothing  was  wanting  but  the 
kindly  offices  of  the  guillotine,  to  usher  in  all  the  imagined 
glories  of  Jacobinical  violence,  such  as  stand  imperishably 
connected  with  the  names  of  Danton,  Robespierre  and  Marat. 
Just  at  the  moment  when  the  public  furor  was  at  its  acme, 
and  when  instances  were  occurring  of  the  owners  of  large 
numbers  of  slaves  being  arraigned  before  these  lawless  and 
self-constituted  tribunals ;  persons  who,  though  themselves 
wholly  untinctured  with  the  abolition  virus,  but  who,  having 
thus  far  been  able  so  far  to  preserve  their  mental  equipoise  as 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  6/ 

to  disapprove  most  strongly  the  confused  and  bloody  proceed- 
ings then  in  progress,  were  on  that  account  suspected  of  com- 
plicity in  the  dark  scheme  of  criminality  which  was  supposed 
to  have  been  concerted.  By  a  singular  coincidence,  the  cel- 
ebrated hanging  scene  occurred  at  Vicksburg,  whilst  the  whole 
interior  country  was  in  the  condition  just  described,  intelli- 
gence of  which  event  was  brought  to  the  city  of  Jackson  on 
the  very  day  that  Judge  Sharkey  called  at  my  room  in  one 
of  the  hotels  of  that  city  and  asked  an  interview  with  me,  lay- 
ing before  me  a  letter  which  he  had  just  received  from  a  valued 
relative  of  his,  Mr.  Patrick  H.  Sharkey,  which  he  asked  me 
to  read.  The  letter  informed  the  judge  that  the  writer  there- 
of was  then  in  the  neighboring  town  of  Clinton,  was  about  to 
undergo  trial  before  the  safety  committee  there  in  session, 
and  besought  him  to  come  as  soon  as  possible  to  intercede 
for  his  life.  Patrick  H.  Sharkey  was  one  of  the  wealthiest 
planters  in  the  county  of  Hinds,  and  a  justice  of  the  peace. 
A  body  of  men  from  the  adjoining  county  of  Madison,  hav- 
ing arrested  one  of  his  most  respected  neighbors  a  day  or 
two  previous,  with  the  intention  of  carrying  him  to  the  town 
of  Livingston  for  trial,  where  men  were  then  being  summa- 
rily hanged  almost  daily,  Sharkey  had  ventured  to  protest 
against  their  action,  and,  claiming  jurisdiction  of  the  case, 
had  turned  the  alleged  culprit  loose.  This  conduct  had 
brought  down  upon  him  the  vengeance  of  the  Regulating 
Band,  by  whom  his  house  was  attacked  in  the  night-time,  and 
in  defence  of  which  he  had  slain  one  of  the  trespassers,  and 
been  severely  wounded  himself;  but  escaping  in  the  dark,  he 
had  voluntarily  appealed  to  the  committee  of  Hinds  county 
for  a  full  investigation  of  the  affair,  being  quite  willing  to  be 
tried  by  citizens  of  his  own  county,  but  wholly  averse  to 
being  dragged  to  Livingston,  where,  he  felt  assured,  his  life 
would  not  be  for  a  moment  safe.  After  I  had  read  the  letter 
referred  to.  Judge  Sharkey  proposed  to  me  to  go  with  him  to 
Clinton,  which  being  the  place  of  my  own  residence  at  the 
time,  he  thought  I  might  be  able  to  exercise  some  influence  in 
favor  of  his  imperiled  kinsman.  We  proceeded  to  Clinton 
accordingly;  where  we  found  the  examination  about  com- 


68^  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

mencing.  The  unhappy  man  at  whose  summons  the  judge 
had  come  to  the  place  of  trial,  was  suffering  greatly  from  the 
wounds  he  had  received,  and  was  scarcely  able  to  sit  erect 
whilst  his  conduct  was  undergoing  scrutiny.  The  proceed- 
dings  of  the  committee  being  ordinarily  conducted  with  closed 
doors,  Judge  Sharkey,  without  asking  the  privilege  of  being 
present  whilst  the  trial  was  going  on,  contented  himself  with 
addressing  the  committee  a  few  words  before  the  adduction 
of  testimony  should  occur,  which  were  listened  to  with  the 
most  profound  attention  and  respect.  This  short  and  touch- 
ing address  to  the  committee  was  truly  a  master-piece  of  its 
kind.  Neither  Erskine  nor  Curran  could  have  met  the  dan- 
gers of  the  moment  with  a  greater  display  of  discretion,  of 
tact,  and  of  soft,  insinuating  persuasiveness,  than  Judge  Shar- 
key on  this  occasion  put  in  exercise.  He  knew  too  well  the 
disturbed  condition  of  the  country  to  call  in  question  the  au- 
thority of  the  committee.  He  did  not  even  allude  to  his  own 
power  to  grant  a  habeas  corpus  for  the  relief  of  the  accused. 
He  frankly  confessed  the  utter  powerlessness  of  the  courts  in 
such  an  exigency  as  had  then  arisen.  He  appealed  directly 
to  the  self-respect  and  known  intelligence  of  the  committee, 
at  whose  hands  he  could  not  doubt  that  justice  would  be 
rendered  in  the  case.  He  showed  the  gross  absurdity  of  the 
charge  of  c<3/«//zW/y  which  had  been  preferred;  and  concluded 
by  urging  with  great  solemnity  and  impressiveness  the  duty 
of  the  committee  to  protect  the  citizens  of  their  own  county 
from  trial  beyond  its  confines,  and  by  persons  already  too 
much  prejudiced  against  the  individual  then  in  custody  to 
give  him  a  fair  and  dispassionate  hearing. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  the  committee  were  not  long  in  de- 
termining this  interesting  case  in  favor  of  the  accused.  That 
their  action  was  wise  and  equitable,  may  be  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  Patrick  H.  Sharkey  afterwards  brought  an  action  of 
damages  against  those  who  had  so  ruthlessly  invaded  his 
home,  and  recovered  damages  from  them  to  the  amount  of 
$10,000,  not  a  farthing  of  which  found  its  way  into  his  own 
pocket,  but  was  generously  distributed  in  charity. 

There  is  another  instance  in  Judge  Sharkey's  history  as  a 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.       69 

public  man  which  I  feel  inclined  to  mention,  as  illustrative  of 
the  principles  which  uniformly  guided  his  career  as  a  sound 
and  conservative  statesman.  In  the  year  1858  a  commercial 
convention  was  held  in  the  city  of  Vicksburg.  I  had  the  honor 
of  being  a  member  of  this  body  as  a  delegate  from  the  state 
of  Tennessee,  Much  to  the  surprise  of  many  who  attended 
on  this  occasion,  a  proposition  was  introduced  by  a  delegate 
from  the  state  of  South  Carolina  for  the  re-opening  of  the 
African  slave  trade.  The  question  had  been  discussed  a  few 
months  before,  in  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina,  and  had 
there  failed  of  being  adopted  by  reason  of  the  wise  and  manly 
opposition  of  General  Wade  Hampton,  whose  forcible  and 
eloquent  speech  on  the  subject  I  read  at  the  time  with  the 
highest  gratification.  It  was  argued  by  the  supporters  of 
this  policy  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  which,  properly  considered,  was  pos- 
itively prohibitory  of  this  infernal  traffic,  and  that  the 
revival  of  it  would  be  productive  of  great  advantage  to 
the  Southern  states  in  general,  and  tend  to  bujld  up  the 
city  of  Charleston  as  a  great  commercial  emporium.  A 
more  ingenious  and  powerful  speech  than  that  delivered 
in  support  of  the  measure  proposed,  by  its  chief  cham- 
pion, I  have  rarely  heard.  It  was  listened  to  with  breath- 
less attention  and  applauded  vociferously.  Those  of  us 
who  rose  in  opposition  were  looked  upon  by  the  excited  as- 
semblage present  as  traitors  to  the  best  interests  of  the  South, 
and  only  worthy  of  expulsion  from  the  body.  The  excitement 
at  last  grew  so  high  that  personal  violence  was  menaced,  and 
some  dozen  of  the  more  conservative  members  of  the  con- 
vention withdrew  from  the  hall  in  which  it  was  holding  its 
sittings.  Judge  Sharkey  hearing  of  this  tumultuous  scene, 
came  at  once  from  his  own  residence  in  Jackson,  to  Vicks- 
burg,  and  did  what  he  could  to  still  the  raging  tempest.  The 
fact  having  been  ascertained  that  this  movement  in  behalf 
of  the  re-opening  of  the  slave  trade  was  the  result  of  pre-con- 
cert, and  that  the  agitation  which  had  been  initiated  was  de- 
signed to  operate  upon  a  State  Democratic  convention,  the 
session  of  which  was  to  occur  in  Jackson  in  a  tew  days,  Judge 


yO  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

Sharkey  proposed  to  me  that  I  should  accompany  him  to 
several  neighboring  counties,  in  advance  of  the  convention, 
and  aid  him  in  putting  the  people  of  Mississippi  on  their 
guard  against  the  coming  danger.  This  I  cheerfully  agreed 
to  do;  being  perfectly  satisfied  that  out  of  the  question  which 
had  now  been  so  suddenly  sprung  upon  the  South,  the  ut- 
most mischief  might  ensue,  if  no  opposition  should  be  rea- 
sonably and  effectively  interposed.  Many  are  yet  living  who, 
I  am  certain,  will  agree  with  me  that  the  speeches  which 
Judge  Sharkey  delivered  at  this  time  were  among  the  most 
felicitous  of  his  Life.  They  unquestionably  had  much  effect 
in  supressing  the  dangerous  agitation  which  had  commenced. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Judge  John  I.  Guion. — Eugene  Magee. — George  Coalter. — William  S.  Bodely. — 
The  Yergers. — Judge  William  E.  Anderson.— Andrew  C.Hayes. — Gen.  Volney  E. 
Howard. — Anderson  Hutchinson. — Gen.  Jno.  A.  Quitman. — William  A.  Lake. — 
Patrick  H.  Tompkins.— Col.  Horace  H.  Miller. 

Whilst  Judge  Sharkey  continued  in  practice  as  attorney,  he 
was  associated  in  business  with  a  gentleman  whose  memory  will 
always  be  dear  to  the  people  of  the  state  of  Mississippi. 
I  allude  to  the  Hon.  John  I.  Guion.  Judge  Guion  was  also 
educated  in  the  state  of  Tennessee,  and  the  friendship  and  in- 
timacy which  so  long  subsisted  between  Judge  Sharkey  and 
himself,  began  at  school.  He  was  decidedly  a  man  of  ability, 
and  possessed  many  endearing  traits  of  character.  Nature 
had  lavished  upon  him  some  of  her  choicest  gifts.  He  pos- 
sessed a  most  symmetrical  person,  a  face  of  much  regularity 
and  beauty,  and  a  genial  expression  of  countenance  which 
predisposed  those  who  met  him  to  yield  to  him  their  confi- 
dence and  sympathy.  He  was  a  sprightly  and  vigorous 
speaker;  discussed  both  facts  and  legal  principles  with  much 
adroitness  and  plausibility  ;  and,  had  he  been  a  man  of  studi- 
ous habits — as,  unfortunately,  he  was  not — he  would  indu- 
bitably have  attained  a  very  high  rank  in  the  profession.  I 
never  heard  Judge  Guion  speak  with  disreputable  feebleness 
or  want  of  grace,  though  it  could  hardly  be  said  that  he  was 
on  any  occasion  overwhelmingly  eloquent,  or  that  he  ever 
displayed  the  highest  logical  powers.  In  social  life  he  was 
a  great  and  deserved  favorite ;  his  disposition  was  placid  and 
equable  ;  in  converse  he  was  sprightly  and  engaging;  he  was 
at  times  much  inclined  tofacetiousness;  told  an  anecdote  with 
much  good  humor,  and  occasionally  indulged  successfully  in 
mimetical  representatious  of  what  he  deemed  ludicrous  in 
others.  After  Judge  Sharkey  had  been  raised  to  the  bench, 
Judge  Guion  invited  Mr.  Prentiss  to  join  him  in  the  practice. 
Great  as  were  the  abilities  of  Mr.  Prentiss,  this  second  part- 
nership was  decidedly  detrimental  to  Judge  Guion  ;  for  it  was 
observed  that,  owing  to   his  profound   deference  for  his  new 


72      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

associate,  or  from  some  other  cause,  he  rarely  afterwards  at- 
tempted to  take  the  lead  in  forensic  discussion,  and  was  much 
more  solicitous  of  building  up  the  fame  of  Mr.  Prentiss  than 
of  advancing  his  own. 

Judge  Guion  was  always  more  successful  in  addressing 
juries  than  he  was  in  the  argument  of  mere  legal  questions. 
In  the  defence  of  criminals  he  sometimes  spoke  in  a  manner 
calculated  to  elicit  much  commendation.  The  last  time  that 
I  remember  to  have  heard  him  in  a  capital  case  was  in  the 
defence  of  a  man  called  William  A.  Hardwicke,  who  was 
charged  with  having  committed  a  most  atrocious  murder. 
Hardwicke  had  in  some  way  managed  to  enlist  the  sympathies 
of  Judge  Guion  very  deeply,  and  in  his  defence  all  his  powers 
as  an  advocate  were  fully  put  in  requisition.  The  case  was 
one  of  the  greatest  difficulty,  and  the  alleged  outrage  had 
called  forth  much  popular  indignation.  The  victim  of  Hard- 
wicke's  ruffianly  malevolence  was  a  colored  man  whom  I 
knew  very  well,  and  who  was  under  excellent  character.  For 
some  unknown  reason  Hardwicke  had  conceived  for  him  a 
strong  feeling  of  hatred,  and  had,  apparently  without  any  re- 
liable evidence  of  the  fact,  charged  him  with  having  stolen 
from  him  some  article  of  personal  property  of  no  considera- 
ble value.  He  appears  to  have  gone  to  his  cabin  at  midnight, 
dragged  him  forth  from  his  bed  where  he  was  lying  by  the 
side  of  a  sick  wife — after  which,  with  the  aid  of  several  mis- 
creants of  his  own  stamp,  he  tied  him  across  a  barrel,  and 
inflicted  upon  his  bare  back  more  than  a  thousand  stripes. 
When  the  poor  creature  was  released  he  was  found  to  be  in  a 
dying  condition,  and  only  survived  a  few  seconds.  In  the 
intenseness  of  his  agony,  he  had  bitten  his  tongue  in  two. 
An  honest  and  enlightened  justice  of  the  peace,  sitting  as  a 
court  of  inquiry,  had  sent  Hardwicke  to  jail ;  an  application 
for  his  discharge  on  bail  had  been  denied ;  an  indictment  had 
been  regularly  found  against  him,  and  after  a  few  month's  delay, 
Hardwicke's  trial  came  on  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  Hinds  County, 
and  in  the  town  of  Raymond.  The  offender  was  prosecuted 
by  a  very  able  district  attorney,  and  with  as  much  of  rigor,  as 
the  law  allowed ;  but  when  Judge  Guion   entered  upon  the 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST.  73 

defence  of  his  client,  he  very  soon  convinced  many  of  his 
listeners  that  in  no  case  should  negro  evidence  be  allowed  to 
prevail  against  a  member  of  the  proud  Caucasian  race ;  and, 
as  the  evidence  against  the  accused  was  mainly  of  that  char- 
acter, he  insisted  that  it  should  be  altogether  thrown  out  of 
the  case.  After  this,  when  the  plausible  and  captivating  ad- 
vocate suggested  the  extreme  impolicy,  in  the  then  existing 
condition  of  the  country,  of  having  a  white  man  hanged  for 
punishing  a  negro  for  theft,  the  case  was  well  nigh  won.  Then 
came  an  animated  and  touching  peroration,  under  which  both 
jury  and  bystanders  were  melted  to  tears,  and  the  oppressed 
and  persecuted  Hardwicke  was  in  a  few  moments  strutting 
forth  from  the  court-house,  and  hurrying  towards  a  neighbor- 
ing tippling-shop,  purse  in  hand,  for  the  purpose  of  treating 
to  liquor  all  who  were  willing  to  drink  in  honor  of  his  de- 
liverance. 

For  a  year  or  two  previous  to  Judge  Guion's  decease,  he 
held  a  judicial  appointment,  and  presided  in  a  highly  satisfac- 
tory manner  in  the  several  courts  of  the  judicial  district  in 
which  he  had  so  long  resided. 

Among  the  contemporaries  of  the  personages  I  have  just 
been  endeavoring  to  portray,  there  were  several  prominent 
attorneys  to  whom  I  will  here  cursorily  invite  the  reader's  at- 
tention. 

Eugene  Magee  was  by  birth  an  Irishman.  He  had  been 
educated  with  all  the  care  bestowed  on  favorite  pupils  at  the 
institutions  of  the  Jesuit  order.  He  is  conjectured  to  have 
been  intended  for  the  priesthood,  but,  on  arriving  at  maturity, 
betook  himself  to  the  more  congenial  vocation  of  the  law. 
He  was  a  most  ripe  and  accurate  scholar,  and  had  given  much 
attention  to  works  of  general  science  and  literature.  In  legal 
learning  he  was  by  no  means  deficient,  and  much  excelled  in 
the  drafting  of  business  papers  of  every  discription.  In  the 
argument  of  a  question  of  law,  and  especially  of  such  as 
arose  out  of  the  pleadings,  he  was  singularly  acute  and  lucid, 
and  displayed  a  concise  vigor  and  a  winning  felicity  of  ex- 
pression which  made  it  quite  a  pleasure  to  listen  to  him.  At 
times  his  sparkling  vivacity  and  caustic  humor — which  ren- 


74  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

dered  him  the  terror  of  slow-minded  plodding  attorneys, 
tended  much  to  relieve  the  dull  monotony  of  ordinary  court 
proceedings.  He  was  quite  a  favorite  in  social  life,  and  was 
the  head  of  a  charming  family  circle.  He  died  very  suddenly 
a  few  years  after  my  acquaintance  with  him  was  formed,  of  a 
slow  pulmonary  malady  with  which  he  had  been  long  afflicted. 

His  associate  in  practice  was  Colonel  George  Coalter,. 
whom"  I  had  known  for  some  years  previous  to  his  migration 
to  the  state  of  Mississippi.  He  was  born  in  Virginia,  had 
spent  much  of  his  life  in  Tennessee,  and  had  then  practiced 
in  the  courts  of  Alabama  for  many  years,  where  he  is  doubt- 
less yet  remembered.  He  was  a  most  pains-taking  and  labor- 
ious office  lawyer,  and  a  most  persevering  student.  Mis  mind 
was  exceedingly  slow  in  its  movements,  and  he  had  not  the 
least  relish  for  intellectual  novelties  of  any  description.  His 
early  education  was  singularly  defective,  and  his  reading  had 
been  confined  exclusively  to  law  books.  He  was  devoid  of 
all  rhetorical  grace,  and  was  particularly  sluggish  and  awk- 
ward in  expression.  By  dint  of  extreme  industry  and  atten- 
tion to  business  he  had  acquired  a  considerable  number  of 
paying  clients ;  and  his  quiet  and  unassuming  manners  en- 
abled him  at  last  to  rise  to  the  bench  of  the  circuit  court,. 
where  he  got  along  somewhat  better  than  might  have  been 
expected;  committing,  during  his  few  years  of  judicial  rule^ 
no  notable  blunder,  and  giving  no  special  offence  in  any  par- 
ticularly influential  quarter,  so  far,  at  least,  as  I  have  obtained 
information  as  to  this  matter. 

Alexander  G.  McNutt,  who  became  in  after  life  very  exten- 
sively known  as  an  active  and  bustling  politician,  settled  in 
the  city  of  Vicksburg  at  a  very  early  period — I  should  say 
about  the  year  1820.  He  attracted  no  notice  as  an  attorney 
for  some  years,  and  fell  into  a  state  of  almost  absolute  desti- 
tution, from  which  he  ultimately  emerged  by  the  kindness  of 
a  Mr.  Hough,  a  merchant  retiring  from  business,  who  placed 
in  his  hands  for  collection  a  large  number  of  outstanding 
claims,  by  industrious  attention  to  which,  with  such  assiduity 
and  success  as  strongly  recommended  him  to  others  of, the 
creditor  class,  by  whose  patronage  he  ultimately  grew  rich. 


BENCH    AND   BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  75 

He  had  so  little  confidence,  in  the  early  part  of  his  career,  in- 
his  own  powers  as  a  speaker,  that  he  seldom  attempted  to- 
argue  a  case,  but  generally  employed  some  brother  attorney 
to  represent  him  when  a  legal  argument  had  to  be  made.  On. 
turning  his  attention  at  last  to  politics,  he  evinced  much  ca- 
pacity, and  in  a  few  years  managed  to  become  a  recognized 
Democratic  leader  in  the  state  legislature.  He  afterwards  be- 
came governor  of  the  state,  and  was  able  to  secure  a  re-elec- 
tion to  this  position.  He  was  regarded  as  absolutely  invinci- 
ble, until,  becoming  a  candidate  for  the  United  States  Senate^, 
he  was  imprudent  enough  to  attack  with  the  weapons  of  sar- 
casm and  ridicule  so  large  a  number  of  the  influential  mem- 
bers of  his  own  party,  that  he  was  .easily  beaten  before  the 
legislature  for  the  position  which  he  had  sought  so  ardently,, 
and  retired  to  private  life.  He  is  now  universally  admitted  to- 
have  been  a  man  of  considerable  ability,  and  to  have  acquired 
in  his  latter  years  such  adroitness  and  skill  as  a  political 
speaker  that  few  deemed  it  prudent  to  encounter  him.  He 
died  in  the  year  1848.  Mr.  McNutt,  perhaps,  accumulated  as 
much  money  by  the  practice  of  the  law  as  any  barrister  that 
Mississippi  has  known. 

A  very  worthy  gentleman  who  is  now  a  resident  of  Louis- 
ville, in  the  state  of  Kentucky,  I  found  engaged  in  the  suc- 
cessful practice  of  law  in  Vicksburg  in  the  winter  of  1831. 
I  allude  to  Judge  William  S.  Bodely,  who,  whilst  he  remained, 
in  Mississippi,  deservedly  held  a  high  rank  among  the  bar- 
risters with  whom  he  was  thrown  into  competition.  He  had: 
enjoyed  many  educational  advantages  in  Kentucky  before  his 
migration  to  the  South,  and  his  professional  training  had  been^ 
thorough.  His  industry  as  a  lawyer  was  such  as  acquired 
for  him  very  quickly  a  respectable  practice.  He  spoke  well, 
wrote  better,  and  was  exceedingly  agreeable  in  social  com- 
mune. He  was  for  a  short  time  on  the  bench,  and  whilst 
there  demeaned  himself  so  as  to  give  general  satisfaction  and 
add  not  a  little  to  his  previous  reputation.  I  was  glad  to  find' 
him  six  years  ago  a  prosperous  lawyer  in  Louisville,  and  but 
little  oppressed  by  the  weight  of  years. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  last  century,  a  very  worthy  Dutch- 


y6  BENCH    A.ND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

family  was  residing  in  the  town  of  Lebanon,  Tennessee,  now 
so  celebrated  for  its  institutions  of  learning,  and  especially  for 
its  law  school.  The  Yerger  mansion  is  still  standing,  and  in 
a  comfortable  state  of  preservation.  In  this  house  were  born 
eight  worthy  gentlemen,  all  brothers,  and  all  but  one  of  them 
practitioners  of  law.  I  have  only  room  at  this  time  to  notice 
specially  three  of  them. 

The  eldest  of  these  brothers,  George  S.  Yerger,  was  at  one 
time  a  prominent  member  of  the  Nashville  bar,  and  officiated 
for  some  years  as  reporter  of  the  judicial  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee — at  first  alone,  and  afterwards 
with  a  younger  brother.  Between  the  years  1838  and  1840, 
all  of  the  Yerger  family,  whom  I  have  known  located  in  the 
state  of  Mississippi.  When  I  first  saw  George  S.  Yerger,  he 
was  apparently  in  the  prime  of  healthful  and  vigorous  man- 
hood. His  manners  were  marked  with  much  simplicity  and 
frankness,  and  he  evinced  a  gentleness  and  placidity  of  tem- 
per which  it  was  delightful  to  behold,  and  which  was  well 
calculated  to  enlist  in  his  behalf  the  warmest  sympathies 
of  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  His  countenance 
beamed  with  benignity,  and  his  voice  possessed  a  sweetness 
and  kindliness  of  tone  such  as  is  seldom  found  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  rougher  sex,  and  is  of  almost  irresistible  potency 
in  social  intercourse.  He  brought  with  him  to  his  new  home 
a  high  reputation  for  legal  learning,  and  this  reputation  he 
succeeded  in  retaining  unimpaired  up  to  the  last  moment  of 
his  life.  His  learning  was  chiefly  such  as  he  had  derived 
from  law  books,  and  this  he  had  stored  away  in  a  memory  of 
wonderful  retentiveness,  and  in  a  form  so  admirably  digested 
and  methodized  as  to  be  ready  for  use  at  any  moment  when 
it  might  be  wanted.  Though  ever  one  of  the  most  laborious 
men  in  his  profession  I  have  known,  yet  he  always  found 
time  for  performing  all  the  duties  of  kind  neighborship,  and 
for  amiable  and  refreshing  relaxation  in  the  domestic  circle. 
He  possessed  a  clear  head,  a  sound  and  generous  heart,  and 
was  alike  devoid  of  envy,  of  low  selfishness,  of  narrow  and 
irrational  prejudices,  and  of  overweening  ambition.  His  im- 
pulsive nature  was  easily  roused,  but  never  ran  into  excesses 


I: 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.       J^ 

of  any  kind.  He  had  studied  his  profession  in  a  somewhat 
irregular  manner,  but  he  had  treasured  up  a  vast  fund  of  legal 
learning,  in  a  great  degree  derived  from  his  study  of  adjudged 
cases,  but  which  he  had  thoroughly  digested  and  could 
promptly  use  in  citation  without  being  compelled  to  hunt  for 
the  volumes  containing  them  in  huge  libraries.  He  always 
spoke  with  animation,  and  sometimes  with  no  little  fervor 
and  emphasis.  His  manner  was  uniformly  easy  and  natural,, 
his  diction  chaste  and  unpretending,  and  his  gesticulation 
decorous  and  impressive.  No  man  ever  heard  him  indulge 
in  extravagant  flights  of  imagination,  give  utterance  to  coarse 
and  ribald  invective,  or  pour  upon  a  respectable  antagonist 
streams  of  low  and  heartless  ridicule.  Nor  was  he  at  any 
time  heard  to  talk  merely  for  the  purpose  of  display — as  the 
custom  of  some  is — or  in  reference  to  matters  not  properly 
appertaining  to  the  case  in  hand.  He  preferred  taking  part 
in  the  trial  of  commercial  causes,  or  in  the  discussion  of  such 
as  were  of  equitable  jurisdiction;  but  he  was  well  fitted,  both 
by  temperament  and  intellectual  training,  for  the  vindication 
of  the  innocent  or  the  prosecution  of  the  guilty,  before  courts 
of  criminal  cognizance.  Of  the  truth  of  this  last  assertion^ 
it  would  be  in  my  power  to  cite  several  conclusive  proofs,  I 
shall  content  myself  at  this  time  with  the  following  recital 
of  facts  :  In  the  year  1844,  a  deeply  interesting  trial  for 
murder  occurred  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  County  of  Hinds^ 
in  which  I  had  the  honor  of  being  associated  with  Mr,  Yer- 
ger  on  the  side  of  the  defence.  Our  client  was  a  young  man 
of  gentle  birth,  of  spotless  character,  and  of  the  greatest  in- 
tellectual promise.  Added  to  all  this, he  was  a  young  gentle- 
man of  most  prepossessing  countenance  and  manners,  and 
beloved  and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  He  had  only 
short  time  before  returned  from  the  Virginia  University,, 
where  he  had  graduated  with  great  distinction.  He  was  one 
of  many  children — all  amiable,  accomplished  and  devoted  to 
himself  His  mother  was  yet  living,  and  was  universally  held 
to  be  a  rare  model  of  moral  excellence  and  exemplary  piety. 
His  father  was  upon  the  theatre  of  active  life,  and  was  alike 
revered  for  his  learning,  his  domestic  and  social  virtues,  and 


78  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

liis  elevated  patriotism.  He  had  been  long  a  member  of  the 
bar  of  Mississippi,  and  had  recently  retired  from  the  position 
•of  District  Judge  of  the  United  States,  without  leaving  a  spot 
upon  the  ermine  which  had  adorned  his  person  and  which  he 
had  now  voluntarily  laid  aside.  This  father  was  the  late 
George  Adams,  and  the  son  of  whom  I  have  been  speaking 
was  the  late  General  Daniel  W.  Adams,  whose  feats  of  daring 
prowess  during  the  late  war  have  gained  for  him  a  high  place 
upon  the  rolls  of  chivalry. 

As  I  have  already  said,  our  then  young  and  inexperienced 
client  had  but  just  returned  home  from  the  university.  He 
was  full  of  youthful  enthusiasm,  and  held  his  father  in  almost 
idolatrous  admiration.  What  was  his  surprise  and  indigna- 
tion at  seeing  a  newspaper,  printed  in  the  city  of  Vicksburg, 
containing  a  most  cruel  and  insulting  editorial  attack  upon 
that  father's  character  ?  It  was  but  natural  that  he  should 
proceed  at  once  to  that  place  to  demand  a  retraxit  of  the 
offensive  article,  or  some  other  atonement  for  the  outrage 
which  had  been  perpetrated.  This  he  did.  On  arriving  at 
Vicksburg,  he  felt  his  situation  somewhat  embarrassing,  for 
he  did  not  know  the  editor  personally.  Being  informed  that 
he  had  gone  to  dinner,  he  set  out  in  quest  of  him ;  and  hav- 
ing reason  to  suppose  that  he  saw  the  individual  of  whom  he 
was  in  quest  approaching  him,  he  advanced  towards  him  with 
the  newspaper  in  question  in  his  hand,  and,  pointing  to  the 
defamatory  article,  asked  him  whether  he  was  the  author 
thereof?  This  brought  on  an  immediate  collision,  in  which 
young  Adams  having  fallen  to  the  earth,  beneath  his  antag- 
onist, who  was  apparently  making  ready  to  slay  him,  he 
reached  up  his  hand,  armed  with  a  pistol  which  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  drawing  from  his  pocket,  and,  placing  it  in  contact 
with  the  hinder  part  of  his  adversary's  head,  fired  it,  and  thus 
put  an  end  to  the  contest.  All  the  attendant  circumstances 
clearly  indicated  that  the  killing  which  had  taken  place  had 
been  done  in  pure  self-defence ;  yet,  as  it  had  grown  out  of  a 
bitter  political  quarrel  then  raging  in  the  state,  a  most  furious 
and  illiberal  prosecution  was  instituted.  Such  was  the  char- 
acter of  the  case  in  which,  as  I  have  said  above,  Mr.  Yerger's 


I 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.       79 

powers  as  an  advocate  were  to  be  exerted.  I  well  remember 
the  occasion,  and  could  almost  repeat  Mr.  Yerger's  line  of  ar- 
gument. To  say  that  it  was  logical  and  convincing  would  be 
but  moderate  praise  indeed.  It  was  one  of  the  most  compact, 
lucid,  and  overwhelming  specimens  of  reasoning  and  pathos 
combined  that  I  ever  witnessed.  Deeply  were  his  own  sensi- 
bilities enlisted,  and  deeply  did  he  enlist  the  sensibilities  of  all 
who  were  in  hearing  of  his  voice.  When  he  closed  his  speech 
I  felt  that  our  case  had  been  won,  and  that  all  further  .ad- 
dresses to  the  jury  in  behalf  of  our  client  would  be  superflu- 
ous. Not  a  single  position  which  he  had  assumed  were 
those  concerned  in  the  prosecution  able  either  to  overturn  or 
seriously  enfeeble.  The  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  acquittal 
in  precisely  eight  minutes. 

It  was  about  fifteen  years  after  this  scene  when  I  was  attend- 
ing court  in  the  county  of  Bolivar,  where  his  brother,  J.  S. 
Yerger,  was  presiding,  that  news  of  the  sudden  decease  of 
the  worthy  personage  of  whom  I  have  been  speaking  reached 
that  village.  Court  was  immediately  adjourned  in  order  to 
enable  all  who  might  desire  to  do  so,  and  especially  his  dis- 
tressed brother,  to  attend  his  funeral.  His  death  had  oc- 
curred under  very  striking  circumstances.  He  was  apparently 
in  usual  health,  and  had  gone  out  upon  a  deer-hunt.  Com- 
ing in  sight  of  a  fine  buck,  he  fired  at  him.  Seeing  him  fall, 
he  ran,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  to  make  sure  of  him,  and 
on  reaching  the  spot  where  the  deer  was  dying,  he  fell,  gun 
in  hand,  upon  the  prostrate  form  of  his  victim,  and  at  once 
ceased  to  breathe.  This  was  the  beginning  of  sorrows  for  his 
amiable  and  bereaved  family,  upon  whom  calamity  after  cal- 
amity has  since  fallen,  of  a  character  more  soul-moving  and 
humiliating  than  anything  recorded  either  in  history  or  ro- 
mance. 

The  second  brother  of  the  Yerger  family,  whom  I  propose 
to  notice, was  the  circuit  judge  to  whom  I  have  just  referred 
— ^J.  S.  Yerger.  His  mind  differed  materially  from  that  of 
his  elder  brother,  already  described,  and  his  stock  of  general 
attainments  was  somewhat  larger.  His  mind  possessed  many 
of  the  best  qualities  which  give  fame  at  the  bar.     His  powers 


80  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

of  perception  were  unusually  quick;  his  judgment  strong; 
his  capacity  for  drawing  subtle  distinctions  such  as  was  in 
no  small  degree  surprising  to  men  of  more  dull  and  sluggish 
intellect ;  and  he  always  expressed  himself  in  the  very 
language  which  seemed  the  best  suited  for  the  conmiunica- 
tion  of  his  ideas.  He  had  read  deeply  and  generally,  and 
was  a  good  judge  both  of  men  and  their  motives  of  action. 
His  knowledge  of  legal  principles  was  wondrously  precise 
and  accurate,  and  I  feel  certain  that  his  strong  and  retentive 
memory  never  relaxed  its  hold  upon  any  useful  information 
with  which  it  had  once  been  stored.  He  was  of  an  eminently 
sociable  disposition,  and  possessed  conversational  powers  of 
a  most  entertaining  and  instructive  character.  He  was  blessed 
with  a  rich  fund  of  humor,  and  excelled  in  lively  and  humor- 
ous narrative.  He  had  a  keen  sense  of  the  ludicrous,  and 
could  hit  off  a  character  particularly  marked  with  eccentrici- 
ties, or  odd  ways  and  notions,  to  the  very  life.  In  the  whole 
course  of  my  travels  I  have  never  met  with  a,  nisi prizis  judge 
who  seemed  able  to  perform  with  equal  success  the  duties 
connected  with  that  position.  He  was  sober,  industrious,, 
energetic,  prompt  in  the  dispatch  of  business,  gentlemanly 
and  dignified  in  his  demeanor,  and  in  the  highest  degree  civil 
and  courteous  towards  all  with  whom  he  was  compelled  to 
have  official  contact.  Judge  Yerger  delivered,  some  years  ago, 
several  eminently  useful  and  impressive  addresses  to  the 
grand  juries  of  the  courts  wherein  he  presided,  which  I  list- 
ened to  at  the  time,  and  which  I  hope  have  been  preserved 
among  his  papers,  and  may  yet  be  presented  to  the  public  in 
a  more  convenient  and  durable  form. 

With  the  youngest  of  the  three  brothers  of  the  Yerger  family 
who  have  been  specially  alluded  to  above — Judge  William 
Yerger — I  had  the  happiness  of  enjoying  a  close  and  unreserved 
intimacy  of  many  years'  duration.  It  is  gratifying  to  me  now 
to  be  able  to  remember  that  I  invited  him  into  the  first  case 
in  which  he  appeared  m  a  Mississippi  court,  and  that  I  caused 
a  very  respectable  fee  to  be  paid  to  him  on  the  occasion ; 
which  same  fee,  though,  I  must  confess  to  have  very  inade- 
quately requited  services  such  as  he  rendered.     He  was  then 


BF.NCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  8 1 

as  I  conjecture,  about  twenty-two  years  of  age ;  and  I  could 
not  help  being  most  forcibly  struck  with  an  intellectual  dis- 
play so  very  superior  to  most  exhibitions  of  the  kind  I  have 
witnessed,  and  suggesting  almost  inevitably  the  examples  of 
intellectual  precocity  of  the  younger  Pitt  and  Alexander  Ham- 
ilton. Mr.  Yerger  was  even  then  a  well  read  and  able  lawyer ; 
a  ripe  and  accurate  scholar;  a  profound  judge  of  men  and 
affairs,  and  altogether  free  from  those  trivialities  and  follies 
which  are  the  customary  attendants  of  young  and  unchastened 
men.  He  habitually  talked  and  spoke  like  a  man  of  extended 
experience  ;  was  perfectly  at  ease  in  all  company,  without  the 
smallest  approach  to  effrontery  or  forwardness.  Even  when 
he  had  but  just  passed  the  dawn  of  manhood,  he  encountered 
repeatedly  on  the  forensic  arena  lawyers  of  long-established 
reputation,  who  were  known  to  have  triumphed  in  a  thousand 
intellectual  conflicts,  and  never  did  the  struggle  terminate 
to  his  loss  of  reputation.  It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  he 
most  abounded  in  weighty  and  profound  conceptions,  or  in 
apt  and  appropriate  language;  but  in  both  these  respects  he 
was  far  superior  to  what  is  commonly  met  with  at  the  bar,  or 
encountered  in  miscellaneous  society.  It  is  almost  needless 
to  say  that  such  a  personage  as  this  could  not  lack  of  pro- 
fessional patronage  in  the  bosom  of  so  discerning  a  commu- 
mity  as  that  amid  which  he  was  now  to  struggle  for  fame  and 
fortune.  When  I  spent  a  few  delightful  days  at  Judge  Yer- 
ger's  hospitable  mansion  in  the  city  of  Jackson,  in  the  year 
1858,  he  was,  perhaps,  near  the  acme  of  his  fame.  I  found^ 
though,  to  my  gratification,  that  he  was  still  ambitious  of  in- 
creased intellectual  culture ;  that  he  was  diligently  keeping 
up  with  the  literature  of  the  day,  and  was  daily  seeking  the 
improvement  of  his  taste  by  the  perusal  of  the  ancient  clas- 
sics. He  then  seemed  to  have  many  happy  and  prosperous 
years  before  him.  But  alas  1  he  has  now  gone  from  the  pres- 
ence of  those  who  loved  and  admired  him  on  earth,  and  can 
no  longer  interchange  with  them  the  language  of  respect  and 
affection,  or  discourse  in  their  hearing  upon  those  lofty  topics 
upon  which  he  was  once  so  sagely  eloquent. 

About  the  period  when  the  Yergers  made  their  first  ap- 


82       BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

pearance  in  the  state  of  Mississippi,  the  bar  of  Tennessee 
supplied  to  that  of  her  sister  state  many  other  attorneys  of 
abihty,  whose  merits  I  should  be  pleased  to  record,  did  cir- 
cumstances admit  of  it.  Let  me  give  a  passing  notice  to  a 
few  of  them. 

William  E.  Anderson  was  a  native  of  the  county  of  Rock- 
bridge in  the  state  of  Virginia,  He  was  truly  a  Samson 
Agcnistes,  alike  in  his  physical  frame  and  in  his  gigantic 
mental  proportions.  He  was  considerably  more  than  six  feet 
in  height.  His  shoulders  were  broad  and  massive.  His 
limbs  were  huge  and  muscular,  but  of  most  harmonious  pro- 
portions. His  figure  was  perfectly  erect,  even  when  he  was 
far  past  the  meridian  of  life.  His  expansive  chest  gave  shelter 
to  one  of  the  most  generous  and  sympathizing  hearts  that 
ever  yet  palpitated  in  a  human  bosom.  His  physiognomy 
was  most  striking  and  expressive,  and  when  kindled  into  ex- 
citement, as  in  his  latter  days  he  rarely  was,  there  flashed 
forth  from  his  commanding  visage  the  mingled  light  of  reason 
and  sentiment,  the  effulgent  beamings  of  which  no  man  ever 
beheld  and  afterwards  forgot.  The  temperament  of  this  re- 
markable personage  was  what  is  in  general  known  as  the  bil- 
ious-sanguineous ;  and  it  is,  therefore,  not  at  all  surprising 
that  he  was  recognized  by  those  who  knew  him  best  as  a  sort 
of  human  volcano,  ordinarily  in  a  state  of  slumbrous  repose, 
but  capable  of  being  stirred  into  sublime  and  terrible  commo- 
tion by  some  adequate  cause,  and,  in  the  moment  of  its  fury, 
menacing  with  desolation  and  ruin  all  the  living  things  of 
earth  that  might  stand  in  the  way  of  its  overflowings.  It  is 
said  by  those  who  listened  to  his  magical  utterances  in  the 
moment  of  his  happiest  inspirations,  that  his  voice  exhibited 
a  compass  and  power  almost  superhuman,  and  that  his  most 
exalted  tones  were  sometimes  distinctly  heard  to  the  distance 
of  half  a  mile.  He  has  left  behind  him  the  reputation  of 
having  never  been  a  very  diligent  student  of  the  learning  ap- 
pertaining to  his  own  profession.  He  was  certainly  very 
fond  of  desultory  reading.  All  admit,  though,  that  he  was 
by  no  means  deficient  in  legal  lore.  Judge  Anderson  was  a 
man  of  a  cheerful  and  sympathizing  turn  of  mind,  and  took 


I 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST.  83 

much  delight  in  scenes  of  innocent  festivity.  I  can  myself 
vouch  for  his  often  saying  very  lively  and  witty  things,  and 
that  he  occasionally  was  heard  to  sing  a  mirth-moving  song 
at  the  hour  of  midnight,  for  the  entertainment  of  some  of 
the  more  genial  of  his  brethren  of  the  bar,  to  their  infinite ' 
merriment  and  gratification. 

Andrew  C.  Hayes  is  yet  well  remembered  by  many  of  his 
surviving  friends  and  early  associates  in  Tennessee.  He  was 
also  a  native  of  Rockbridge  county,  Virginia,  and  owed  his 
education  to  what  was  formerly  known  as  Washington  Col- 
lege. He  removed  to  the  state  of  Mississippi  in  the  year  1837, 
where  he  made  many  friends,  by  whom  his  sudden  decease 
a  few  years  after  he  came  among  them,  was  very  much  re- 
gretted. He  was  a  person  of  quite  an  original  turn  of  mind, 
and  was  accused  of  not  a  little  eccentricity.  He  did  not 
profess  ever  to  have  been  a  very  close  student  of  his  profes- 
sion, from  which,  I  am  confident,  he  would  at  any  time  have 
withdrawn,  had  circumstances  permitted.  He  sometimes 
spoke  at  the  bar  with  considerable  vivacity  and  force,  and  was 
certainly  one  of  the  most  kind-hearted  and  companionable 
men  I  ever  knew.  He  is  reported  by  his  early  Nashville  ac- 
quaintances to  have  officiated  in  Tennessee  for  some  years, 
anterior  to  his  removal  to  Mississippi,  as  a  district  attorney, 
and  to  have  performed  the  duties  of  that  position  with  much 
fidelity  and  success.  He  was  much  noted,  when  I  knew  him, 
for  an  unaccountable  forgetfulness  of  names,  and  for  his  ad- 
dictedness  to  unseasonable  fits  of  abstraction,  which  often 
caused  much  innocent  amusement  in  the  court-house  and 
elsewhere. 

Colonel  Hayes — as  he  was  commonly  called — commenced 
his  career  in  Mississippi  in  connection  with  a  gentleman  who 
has  since  acquired  much  reputation  in  several  states  of  the 
Union,  and  whose  life  has  been  quite  an  eventful  one.  I  re- 
gret not  to  be  able  to  speak  more  at  large  of  him  on  this  oc- 
casion— for  Volney  E.  Howard  was  certainly  no  ordinary  man. 
Born  in  Maine,  he  came  to  Mississippi  when  very  young,  and 
at  once  engaged  in  politics.  He  was  for  some  years  editor  of 
the  Mississippiafi,  a  newspaper  yet,  I  believe,  published,  and 


$4      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

wielded  for  several  years  much  influence  over  the  affairs  of 
what  was  called  the  Democratic  party.  He  was  a  caustic 
and  trenchant  writer,  and  many  suffered  under  his  editorial 
castigation,  both  of  his  own  and  of  the  opposing  political 
faction.  For  several  years  he  was  reporter  of  the  decisions  of 
the  High  Court  of  Errors  and  Appeals  of  Mississippi,  and 
co-operated  with  the  late  Anderson  Hutchinson  in  bringing 
out  a  new  edition  of  the  Mississippi  Code.  He  afterwards 
removed  to  Texas ;  was  one  of  the  representatives  of  that 
state  in  1850,  and  took  an  active  part  in  securing  the  adoption 
of  the  compromise  measures  of  that  period.  On  the  admis- 
sion of  California,  he  was  sent  out  in  an  important  official 
character  to  that  new  and  rising  state,  and  is  understood  to 
have  there  been  exceedingly  successful  in  the  acquisition  of 
both  fame  and  fortune. 

I  have  had  occasion,  in  speaking  of  General  Howard,  to 
mention  a  name  which  springs  a  thousand  painful  and  pleas- 
ant remembrances  of  the  past.  Anderson  Hutchinson  was  a 
native  of  Greenbrier  county  in  the  state  of  Virginia.  He 
here  received  a  good  English  education,  became  familiar  with 
the  forms  of  judicial  proceeding,  whilst  assisting  his  father 
in  performing  the  duties  of  clerk  of  the  courts  of  Greenbrier 
county,  and  removed,  on  attaining  manhood,  to  Knoxville, 
in  East  Tennessee,  where  he  read  law  and  obtained  a  license 
to  practice.  Soon  after  this  he  joined  the  celebrated  William 
Kelly  at  Huntsville,  Alabama,  in  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion. Subsequently,  migrating  to  Mississippi,  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  the  writer  of  this  hasty  and  imperfect  sketch. 
In  about  ten  years  he  left  Mississippi  as  an  adventurer  to 
Texas,  were  he  was  favorably  received  and  soon  placed  upon 
the  bench  of  her  Supreme  Court.  He  had  not  held  this  re- 
sponsible and  dignified  position  long,  when  an  event  occurred 
of  a  most  disastrous  character,  which,  for  a  time,  subjected 
him  to  much  inconvenience  and  suffering.  He  was  holding 
court  in  the  city  of  San  Antonio,  and  was  superintending  the 
trial  of  an  important  cause,  when  a  body  of  armed  Mexicans, 
whose  proximity  had  not  been  suspected,  broke  into  the 
court-house,  and  carried  off"  the  judge    and  several  others 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      8$ 

who  were  in  attendance  upon  the  court,  to  the  Castle  of 
Perote,  where  they  were  for  some  months  kept  in  a  state  of 
close  incarceration.  Through  the  friendly  interposition  of 
the  American  Minister  near  the  Mexican  capitol,  the  late 
Waddy  Thompson,  Judge  Hutchinson  was  at  last  released 
from  imprisonment,  when  he  returned  to  the  state  of  Missis- 
sippi, and  again  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law,  becoming 
once  more  my  co-partner  in  business.  He  died  in  the  year 
1853,-  beloved  and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  Judge 
Hutchinson  did  not  at  all  excel  as  a  speaker;  but  he  was  a 
deeply  read  lawyer,  possessed  a  sound  and  vigorous  intellect, 
and  was  the  most  industrious,  persevering,  and  skillful  office 
lawyer  I  have  ever  known.  He  was  a  man  of  the  greatest 
simplicity  of  manners;  credulous  and  confiding  almost  to  a 
fault ;  and  was  universally  recognized  as  an  honest,  public- 
spirited  and   patriotic  citizen. 

Amid  that  throng  of  meritorious  attorneys  whom  I  formerly 
knew  as  occupying  elevated  positions  at  the  Mississippi  bar, 
and  who  are  now  no  longer  among  the  living,  it  is  impossible 
that  I  could  fail  to  notice  the  Honorable  Caswell  R.  Clifton. 
He,  like  Judge  Hutchinson,  had  been  a  member  of  the  bar 
in  Alabama  and  had  afterwards  removed  to  Mississippi,  where 
he  almost  immediately  obtained  a  large  and  profitable  practice. 
He  was  for  some  time  a  circuit  court  judge,  and  was  highly 
approved  as  such  ;  but  he  soon  resigned  this  position,  and 
joined  Judge  Mayes,  who  was  at  the  time  overwhelmed  with 
professional  business.  He  had,  early  in  life,  officiated  as  clerk 
of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  at  Huntsville. 
When  he  died  he  was  occupying  the  place  of  clerk  of  the 
High  Court  of  Errors  and  Appeals.  Judge  Clifton  was  a 
man  of  extensive  general  reading,  was  possessed  of  much 
legal  learning,  had  much  success  in  early  life  as  a  chaste, 
pointed  and  entertaining  political  writer,  and  was  admirably 
qualified  to  command  respect  and  secure  numerous  friends  in 
social  life. 

General  John  A.  Quitman  is  familiarly  known  by  character 
to  every  intelligent  freeman  in  America.  He  was  a  brilliant 
and  meritorious  actor  in  the  late  Mexican  war,  was  at  one 


86       BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

time  chancellor  of  the  state  of  Mississippi;  at  a  subsequent 
period  of  life  he  became  governor  of  that  state,  and  repre- 
sented for  several  years  one  of  her  congressional  districts  m 
the  national  house  of  representatives.  He  is  said  to  have 
been  educated  for  the  ministry;  but  not  having  much  relish 
for  that  vocation,  he  studied  law,  and  located  in  the  city  of 
Natchez  about  the  year  1822.  General  Quitman's  legal  at- 
tainments were  respectable,  his  scholarship  quite  considerable, 
and  his  general  reading  by  no  means  contemptible.  He  was 
a  ready  and  vigorous  writer,  but  was  singularly  deficient  ia 
rhetorical  energy  and  grace.  He  was  a  courageous  and  high- 
minded  gentleman,  and  left  behind  him  numerous  friends  and 
admirers. 

Major  William  A.  Lake,  for  many  years  a  prominent  mem- 
ber of  the  Mississippi  bar,  was  a  native  of  Maryland.  He 
was  a  man  of  most  majestic  person,  of  polished  and  agreeable 
manners,  and  very  extensively  loved  and  respected.  His 
standing  at  the  bar  was  highly  reputable,  his  personal  popu- 
larity unsurpassed,  and  his  untimely  death,  upon  the  field  of 
honor,  was  universally  regretted  in  the  community  where  he 
had  so  long  lived  in  the  practice  of  every  social  and  domestic 
virtue.  It  may  be  truly  said  of  this  amiable  and  accomplished 
man,  that  though  proud  and  sensitive  in  his  feelings,  he  was 
not  at  all  irritable  or  petulant;  and,  though  assiduous  in 
maintaining  his  own  dignity,  he  was  never  in  the  least  degree 
arrogant  or  overbearing  in  his  demeanor  towards  others. 

Patrick  H.  Tompkins  first  saw  the  light  in  the  state  of 
Kentucky,  where  he  was  occupied  in  the  practice  of  law  for 
some  years  before  he  was  attracted  to  a  region  where  he  was 
destined  soon  to  rise  to  distinction,  and  to  run  a  very  brilliant 
career,  both  as  an  attorney  and  politician.  The  scholastic 
attainments  of  Mr.  Tompkins  were  by  no  means  extensive ; 
his  knowledge  of  law  not  much  above  what  is  usual  at  the 
bar;  but  he  was  richly  endowed  by  nature,  and  well  qualified 
J  by  reason  of  his  energy  and  close  application  to  whatever  he 
undertook,  to  obtain  patronage  as  an  attorney,  and  to  acquire 
prominence  as  a  party  leader  in  bustling  and  exciting  times. 
He  was  wonderfully  ready  as  a  speaker;  reasoned  upon  or- 


I 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.       87 

dinary  facts  with  much  astuteness  and  ingenuity,  exhibited 
on  all  occasions  a  rich  fund  of  humor,  and  bore  along  with 
him  perpetually  a  weighty  budget  of  apt  and  telling  anec- 
dotes, which  he  related  in  a  manner  often  irresistibly  comical. 
He  appeared  in  many  well-remembered  criminal  trials  with 
great  credit  whilst  he  remained  in  Mississippi,  and  as  a  polit- 
ical debater,  had  few,  if  any  superiors  in  the  state.  He  served 
in  Congress  for  several  years,  and  upon  the  acquisition  of 
California,  removed  to  the  city  of  San  Francisco,  where  in  a 
year  or  two  he  died. 

Though,  in  performing  the  task  in  which  I  am  now  en- 
gaged, I  have  deemed  it  prudent  to  avoid,  as  far  as  practica- 
ble, the  mention  of  individuals,  however  meritorious  and  dis- 
tinguished they  may  be,  who  are  yet  living,  I  am  tempted  to 
make  an  exception  to  this  rule  in  the  case  of  the  interesting 
individual  now  about  to  be  mentioned. 

Colonel  Horace  H.  Miller  was  known  to  me  very  familiarly 
in  the  city  of  Vicksburg,  some  twenty-five  years  ago,  as  a 
young  gentleman  of  much  intellectual  promise,  and  of  many 
noble  traits  of  character.  He  was  then  the  editor  of  a  news- 
paper of  considerable  circulation  and  of  quite  an  extended 
influence.  He  was  a  zealous  supporter  of  the  Union  in  the 
memorable  political  struggle  of  that  period,  and  gained  much 
reputation  as  a  manly,  energetic,  and  judicious  political  writer. 
As  a  reward  for  his  valuable  patriotic  services,  President  Fill- 
more, at  my  instance,  conferred  upon  him  an  important  diplo- 
matic appointment,  the  duties  of  which  he  is  known  to  have 
discharged  with  eminent  credit.  When  he  returned  from 
abroad,  Colonel  Miller  returned  to  the  practice  of  the  law,  in 
which  I  rejoice  to  learn  that  his  success  has  been  equal  to 
his  merits. 

Should  I  live  twenty  years  longer,  there  are  able  and  learned 
attorneys  yet  residing  in  Mississippi,  who,  should  they  have 
left  the  scenes  of  earth  in  advance  of  me,  I  shall  take  pleasure 
in  delineating  for  the  benefit  of  future  generations ;  and  I 
shall  be  especially  encouraged  to  the  performance  of  this 
task  by  the  continued  successful  publication  of  the  Southern 
Law   Review,   providing  its  editor  of  that  period  shall  be 


88      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

willing  to  aid  me  in  preserving  the  materials  needful  for  the 
preparation,  by  some  more  gifted  pen,  of  a  regular  and  com- 
plete History  of  the  Bench  and  Bar  of  the  South  and  South- 
west. 

In  bringing  this  article  to  a  close,  I  hope  to  be  excused  for 
the  remarks  which  I  deem  it  proper  here  to  subjoin.  At 
different  stages  of  my  own  somewhat  active  career  as  a  public 
man,  I  have  been  brought  into  contact,  of  a  more  or  less 
familiar  character,  with  a  large  majority  of  the  lawyers  who 
have  been  residents  of  Mississippi  during  the  last  forty-five 
years.  It  has  been  my  fortune  likewise  to  traverse,  at  differ- 
ent periods,  most  of  the  states  and  territories  comprised  with- 
in the  limits  of  this  wide-spread  Republic ;  and  I  now  take 
pleasure  in  averring  that  I  know  of  no  region  where  the 
members  of  the  bar,  as  a  class,  have  shown  themselves  en- 
titled to  more  consideration  and  respect  than  those  of  the 
yet  loved  and  honored  commonwealth  in  which  my  own  days 
of  early  manhood  were  spent,  and  where  I  have  been  formerly 
the  recipient  of  honors  and  kindnesses  far  beyond  any  merit 
which  I  possessed.  Upon  the  Bench  of  Mississippi  many 
learned  and  able  judges  have  presided  in  the  last  half  century, 
whose  recorded  opinions  will  "stand  the  test  of  scrutiny,  of 
talents  and  of  time ;"  and  among  the  servitors  of  the  Forum 
there  has  ever  prevailed  in  this  once  prosperous  but  now  un- 
happy state,  a  nice  and  delicate  sense  of  professional  and  of 
personal  honor,  and  a  freedom  from  immoral  habits  and 
coarse  incivility  of  manners,  which  would  do  credit  to  any 
age  or  country. 

Note. — After  the  above  article,  or  chapter,  as  it  now  is,  had  been  written  and  sent 
forward  for  publication  in  the  SOUTHERN  Law  Review,  a  correspondence  occurred 
between  the  enterprising  publishers  of  that  excellent  periodical  and  myself — the  re- 
sult of  which  was  an  arrangement  for  the  publication  by  them  of  the  present  volume, 
containing,  as  it  does,  the  numbers  which  had  previously  appeared  in  the  Reveiw, 
together  with  much  other  matter  in  addition,  subsequently  prepared  by  me  for  that 
purpose.  It  thus  became  necessary  to  divide  all  that  might  find  a  place  in  this  work 
into  chapters — prefixing  to  each  a  short  statement  of  contents.  This  explanation  ot 
particulars  has  been  deemed  proper  for  the  satisfaction  of  those  who  may  honor 
these  hasty  and  imperfect  sketches  with  a  perusal.  F. 


I 


CHAPTER  V. 

General  Remarks. — Judge  Rucks. — O.  B.  Hubbard. — ^Amos  R.Johnston. — John  N. 
Drake. — William  Vannerson. — General  Allen. — Colonel  McClung.  -Nicholas  Col©- 
-man. — John  M.  Chilton. — Beverly  Hughes. — Hinman. — William  B.  Redd. —  Buckner 
C  Harris. — Wiley  P.  Harris. — George  Winchester. — Richard  H.  Webber. — ^John  W. 
C.  Watson. — Roger  Barton. — Reuben  Davis. — Luke  Lea. — L.  Q.  C.  Lamar. 

•  Few  things  have  been  more  the  subject  both  of  playful 
ridicule  and  literary  sarcasm  than  an  over-great  facility  in 
changing  one's  opinions,  and,  as  a  consequence,  an  over- 
readiness  in  modifying  one's  course  of  action.  Fickleness 
and  inconstancy  of  purpose  in  affairs  of  importance  are  in  truth 
less  apt  to  be  pardoned  than  a  dogged  and  wilful  obstinacy 
which  is  alike  impervious  to  the  suggestions  of  reason  and  the 
persuasions  of  sympathizing  tenderness.  And  yet,  consider- 
ing the  exceeding  feebleness  and  inadequacy  of  our  intellec- 
tual faculties — the  uncertainty  of  all  our  means  of  intercom- 
munication with  the  various  objects  which  surround  us — the 
constantly  changing  condition  of  all  those  things  with  which 
it  is  permitted  to  us  to  hold  contact — and  the  numberless 
delusive  influences  of  every  kind  which  are  ever  dominating 
in  a  greater  or  less  degree  upon  our  fancies  and  whole  emo- 
tional nature — it  would  seem  that  nothing  could  be  more 
absurd  than  that  vanity  and  presumption  so  often  displayed 
by  men  even  of  the  meanest  mental  endowments,  in  claiming 
for  themselves  the  glory  oC  never  altering  resolves  when  once 
formed,  and  never  declining  to  do  what  they  have  on  some 
former  occasion  declared  it  to  be  their  intention  to  do.  The  fact 
is,  we  must  modify  our  opinions  in  accordance  with  the  shift 
ing  circumstances  amidst  which  we  are  thrown,  or  become 
victims  to  our  own  wilful  obstinacy.  We  must  vary  our 
action  when  some  new  and  unexpected  light  beams  in  upon 
us,  or  stumble  fatally  over  obstacles  that  a  little  good  sense 
and  tact  might  have  avoided.  We  must  be  willing  on  some 
•occasions  to  recall  even  our  own  words,  either  as  to  ourselves 


go  BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

or  others,  when  we  find  them  to  have  been  rashly  and  inju- 
diciously uttered.  And  thus  do  I  find  the  case  to  be  with 
myself  at  this  ver}''  moment:  for,  having  heretofore  announced, 
as  a  general  rule,  that  I  should  in  these  sketches  confine  my 
remarks  to  persons  no  longer  living,  I  have,  for  several  reasons 
which  seem  to  me  at  least  to  be  quite  satisfactory,  so  far 
altered  my  intention  in  this  respect,  that  the  exceptions  to  this 
rule  which  may  hereafter  occur  will  be,  I  apprehend,  far  more 
numerous  than  some  of  my  readers  will  consider  judicious 
and  politic. 

HaviAg  thus  premised,  I  will  call  attention  for  a  moment  to 
one  whom  I  have  not  heretofore  mentioned,  but  who  is  en- 
titled to  a  far  more  extended  notice  than  that  which  I  am  able 
at  present  to  accord  him.  James  Rucks  was  born  in  the 
county  of  Granville  and  State  of  North  Carolina.  His  parents 
removed  to  the  State  of  Tennessee  when  he  was  in  his  seven- 
teenth year;  but  the  subject  of  these  remarks  soon  returned 
to  the  State  of  his  nativity  for  the  completion  of  his  collegiate 
education.  Having  taken  the  customary  degrees  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  he  returned  to  Tennessee,  read  law 
diligently  and  successfully  for  two  years,  and  commenced  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  Carthage,  then  a  most  promising 
town,  where  he  soon  obtained  a  profitable  business,  in  com- 
petition with  some  of  the  ablest  attorneys  that  Tennessee  could 
then  boast.  He  is  reported  by  his  friends  of  that  period  to 
have  been  singularly  industrious  in  the  preparation  of  his 
cases,  and  remarkably  clear  and  forcible  in  his  manner  of  dis- 
cussing them  in  Court.  He  subsequently  located  in  the  town 
of  Lebanon,  where  he  remained  cintil  about  the  year  1828,^ 
when  he  removed  to  the  city  of  Nashville,  and  was  associated 
in  business  with  the  celebrated  Felix  Grundy,  and  General 
Gibbs.  He  afterwards  became  one  of  the  Circuit  Judges  of 
Tennessee,  and,  in  that  responsible  position,  gave  universal 
satisfaction.  He  removed  to  the  city  of  Jackson,  in  the  State 
of  Mississippi,  in  the  year  1839.  Being  now  in  affluent  cir- 
cumstances, he  seldom  appeared  in  court  as  an  attorney,  but 
I  had  the  honor  of  occasionally  hearing  him  in  the  argument 
of  causes  of  considerable  magnitude  and  difficulty,  and  can 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  gi 

attest  his  ability  as  a  jurist,  his  astuteness  and  ingenuity  as  a 
reasoner,  and  his  remarkable  address  and  plausibility  both- 
before  courts  and  juries.  Judge  Rucks  was  a  man  of  com- 
manding person,  of  most  refined  and  pleasing  manners,  and 
of  a  generous  and  glowing  benevolence,  and  was,  in  all  the 
duties  of  life,  as  exemplary  a  person  as  I  have  ever  known; 
He  was  residing  quietly  on  his  plantation  in  the  county  of 
Washington,  when  he  heard  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Donelson,  in 
February,  1862;  after  which,  he  is  reported  never  to  have 
eaten  or  slept — dying  on  the  fourth  day  after  the  reception  of 
this  overwhelming  intelligence, 

O.  B.  Hubbard  was  nearly  connected  with  Judge  Rucks, 
having  married  his  sister.  I  knew  him  well  as  early  as  the 
year  1826,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Tuscumbia,  Alabama, 
where  he  was  occupied  in  the  creditable  employment  of 
teacher  of  a  classical  school.  He  was  a  native  of  Lincoln 
county,  in  the  State  of  Georgia;  was  reared  in  the  State  of 
Tennessee,  where  he  practiced  for  many  years  along  the  banks 
of  the  Cumberland,  in  connection  with  a  well-known  attorney, 
William  McClain,  Esq.,  and,  in  1839,  removed  to  the  town  of 
Canton,  Mississippi,  where  he  is  still  most  respectfully  and 
affectionately  remembered.  Mr.  Hubbard  was  profoundly  ac- 
quainted with  the  ancient  languages,  Latin,  Greek,  and  He- 
brew; had  thoroughly  mastered  the  science  of  law,  and  was 
a  very  sensible  and  pleasing  speaker.  He  left  behind  him 
when  he  died,  in  1844,  a  spotless  reputation  for  integrity  and 
all  the  domestic  and  social  virtues,  and' his  untimely  decease 
awakened  feelings  of  painful  regret  among  his  numerous 
friends  and  acquaintances  both  in  Mississippi  and  Tennessee. 

In  January,  1 83 1,  it  chanced  that  I  had  temporary  charge 
of  a  newspaper  of  some  standing  and  circulation  then  pub- 
lished in  the  city  of  Vicksburg.  Having  occasion  one  morn- 
ing to  visit  the  printing  office  from  which  this  paper  issued,  I 
was  unexpectedly  accosted  by  a  young  gentleman  of  most 
modest  and  prepossessing  manners,  who  was  at  the  time  in 
his  shirt-sleeves,  and  had  been  evidently  the  moment  before 
engaged  in  setting  type  for  the  newspaper.  He  held  out  to 
me  a  neatly  written  communication  which  he  desired  me  to 


92  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

read.  I  did  so  at  once,  and  found  tliat  it  purported  to  have 
been  written  by  a  practical  printer,  and  was  designed  to  vin- 
dicate the  dignity  of  his  calling.  The  writer  very  touchingly 
complained  that  persons  engaged  in  mechanical  pursuits  were 
not  received  upon  terms  of  social  equality  in  Vicksburg,  which 
the  writer  regarded  as  a  discreditable  thing  and  worthy  of  the 
most  marked  censure,  evincing,  as  he  conceived,  the  preva- 
lence of  an  aristocratic  spirit  in  the  community  wholly  un- 
suited  to  republican  institutions.  I  do  not  believe  that 
Franklin  himself,  on  the  memorable  day  of  his  first  arrival  in 
the  renowned  Quaker  City,  when,  as  he  describes  himself,  he 
was  leisurely  sauntering  along  Market  street  devouring  a  roll 
-of  bread  which  he  had  just  purchased — even  under  the  inspira- 
tion of  his  future  wife,  Miss  Read,  whom  he  saw  that  day  for 
the  first  time — could  have  drawn  up  a  more  touching,  decorous, 
and  manly  defence  of  that  respectable  class  of  artisans  among 
whom  he  had  cast  his  lot,  than  this  interesting  young  stranger 
now  tendered  for  publication  in  the  columns  of  the  newspaper 
-of  which  I  was  for  the  moment  the  inagister.  Deeply  inter- 
ested with  the  vigorously  penned  article  thus  submitted  for 
my  examination,  I  lost  no  time  in  expressing  my  willingness 
that  it  should  appear  in  the  newspaper  of  next  morning,  and 
it  gave  me  pleasure  to  accompany  it  with  some  laudatory 
comments  such  as  I  judged  suitable  and  deserved.  On  en- 
quiring who  this  young  man  was  with  whom  I  had  thus 
informally  come  in  contact,  I  found  that  he  was  a  member  of 
a  highly  reputable  family  in  Tennessee;  that  though  then  not 
more  than  twenty  years  of  age,  he  had  already  acquired  some 
reputation  as  a  political  writer  in  the  Western  District,  as  it 
was  then  called,  and  that  he  was  there  part-owner  of  a  news- 
paper with  another  young  gentleman  by  the  name  of  ZoUi- 
coffer,  in  whose  hands  he  had  left  the  management  of  their 
joint  concerns  during  his  absence  for  a  few  weeks.  This  en- 
terprising young  man  was  the  now  famous  Amos  R.  Johnston, 
for  many  years  past,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  members 
of  the  bar  of  Mississippi.  The  Zollicoffer  referred  to  was  no 
other  than  the  celebrated  General  Zollicoffer,  for  many  years 
the  editor  of  the  leading  Whig  journal  in  the  city  of  Nashville, 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.       95 

afterwards  a  prominent  member  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives in  Congress,  and  one  of  the  first  victims  of  the  late  un- 
happy civil  war.  Amos  R.  Johnston,  a  few  months  after  I 
first  saw  him,  was  the  editor  of  an  able  and  influential  news- 
paper in  the  interior  of  Mississippi,  subsequently  read  law,, 
and  obtained  a  license  to  practice.  He  has,  at  different  times, 
held  a  number  of  important  civil  offices  in  Mississippi,  and  is 
now,  I  learn,  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature.  It  has  been 
my  fortune  to  see  much  of  this  accomplished  gentleman  in 
the  contests  of  the  forum,  and  never  without  receiving  con- 
stantly renewed  evidences  of  his  intellectual  strength,  his 
skill  and  adroitness  in  discussion,  and  his  high-bred  courtesy 
in  social  intercourse.  A  more  upright,  patriotic,  and  thorough- 
ly trustworthy  personage  is  not  to  be  found  upon  the  roll  of 
attorneys  in  any  State  of  the  Union. 

Judge  Johnston  was  many  years  ago  concerned  in  the  de- 
fence of  a  young  man  charged  with  murder,  in  which  I  had 
the  honor  to  be  associated  with  him.  The  killing  had  beea 
productive  of  intense  local  excitement,  and  it  was  deemed 
most  judicious  not  to  bring  on  a  trial  of  it  immediately.  The 
young  man  was  detained  in  prison  several  years,  during  which 
period  a  somewhat  curious  event  had  occurred.  A  peach- 
stone  accidentally  cast  from  the  window  of  his  cell  had  germ- 
inated and  grown  into  a  tree  large  enough  for  the  prisoner  to 
pluck  ripe  fruit  from  its  branches  a  few  weeks  previous  to  his 
release  from  incarceration.  Having  heard  of  no  correspond- 
ing instance,  I  have  thought  proper  here  to  advert  to  the 
particulars  just  mentioned. 

It  has  now  been  some  forty-two  or  more  years  since  the 
dangerous  and  absurd  dogma  of  nullification  first  erected  its 
Gorgon  crest  in  South  Carolina  ;  from  which  state  its  baleful 
influence  quickly  diffused  itself  over  many  of  the  slave-hold- 
ing states  of  the  South  and  Southwest.  Various  attempts 
were  made  by  the  enthusiastic  devotees  of  this  plausible  but 
most  deleterious  heresy,  through  newspapers,  popular  meet- 
ings, state  conventions,  &c.,  to  build  up  a  nullification  faction 
in  the  State  ot  Mississippi.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that 
several  of  the  most  zealous  and  effective  propagators  of  the 


94  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF    SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

extreme  State  Rights  creed  were  natives  of  Northern  states. 
The  good  people  of  Mississippi  in  general,  at  the  period  re- 
.ferred  to,  showed  little  disposition  to  engage  in  chimerical 
projects  of  any  kind,  or  to  do  aught  to  enfeeble  the  ties  that 
bound  them  to  their  fellow  citizens  of  other  states.  It  was 
in  the  spring  of  1833  that  I  had  occasion  to  visit,  as  an  attor- 
ney, the  little  village  of  Brandon,  distant  from  Jackson,  the 
capital  of  the  state,  about  ten  miles.  A  Circuit  Court  was 
about  to  be  held,  where  I  had  a  case  or  two  pending.  On 
reaching  the  hotel  where  I  usually  sought  entertainment, 
having  descended  from  my  horse,  I  proceeded  to  the  bar  room 
for  the  purpose  of  registering  my  name  and  depositing  my 
saddlebags.  There  I  saw  a  young  man  in  attendance,  officiat- 
ing as  bar-keeper,  who  accosted  me  by  name  and  seemed  to  be 
really  pleased  at  my  arrival.  He  was  clad  in  most  homely 
vestments,  wearing  a  coarse  green  baize  round-jacket  and 
trousers  and  waistcoat  to  match.  This  individual  was  of 
-ordinary  stature,  of  good  physical  proportions,  having  a 
bright  and  genial  face,  and  would  have  been  pronounced 
handsome  anywhere.  He  was  smoking  a  cigar,  apparently 
with  much  gusto,  and  was  the  very  personification  of  cheer- 
ful and  contented  repose.  On  asking  his  name,  he  told  me 
it  was  John  N.  Drake,  and  that  I  had  been  introduced  to  him 
-in  the  town  of  Clinton,  a  month  or  two  before,  by  a  valued 
friend  of  mine.  I  then  remembered  him  very  well,  and  en- 
quired how  he  had  been  since  I  saw  him  last.  He  answered 
that  his  health  had  never  been  better,  but  that  he  had  in- 
curred, since  I  met  him  in  Clinton,  some  rather  severe  pecun- 
iary calamities.  His  explanation  of  these  may  be  thus 
summed  up:  He  had  brought  a  considerable  number  of 
family  negroes  with  him  to  Mississippi,  from  Tennessee,  his 
native  state,  whom,  on  arriving  in  Clinton,  he  had  been  ad- 
vised to  take  with  him  to  the  sugar  region  of  Louisiana.  He 
had,  accordingly,  proceeded  with  them  to  New  Orleans, 
where  he  concluded  to  dispose  of  them.  He  had  then  been 
enticed  to  the  gambling  houses  of  that  city,  where  he  had 
lost  every  dollar  that  he  had  in  the  world.  He  disposed 
of  all  his  usual  wearing  apparel  in  order  to  obtain  the  means 


BEN'CH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.       95 

)f  getting  back  to  Tennessee,  and,  with  a  portion  of  the  pro- 
fceeds  of  this  sale  had  supplied  himself  with  the  garments 
which  he  was  then  wearing.  Every  cent  of  the  remainder 
thereof  had  been  spent  by  him  in  journeying  from  New 
Orleans  to  Brandon.  There  he  had  sought  temporary  em- 
ployment in  the  hotel  where  I  found  him,  until  something 
should  "  turn  up  in  his  favor." 

Deeply  distressed  by  this  tale  of  woes,  I  felt  much  desire 
to  do  something  to  rescue  a  young  person  of  so  many  at- 
tractive qualities  from  the  fate  to  which  he  seemed  to  be 
hurrying ;  and  having  been  invited  to  take  supper  that  even- 
ing at  the  house  of  a  mercantile  friend,  I  made  it  my  business 
to  bring  this  unfortunate '  case  to  his  notice.  From  him  I 
learned  the  following  interesting  facts.  A  debating  society 
existed  in  the  village  of  Brandon,  which  was  in  general  at- 
tended by  many  of  the  citizens.  At  one  of  the  recent  meet- 
ings of  the  society,  Major  Drake  had  delivered  a  speech  of 
such  extraordinary  eloquence  that  the  whole  community  was 
now  resounding  with  his  praises,  and  all  were  anticipating 
for  him  great  fame  as  an  orator.  I  went  to  see  him  immedi- 
ately, and  enquired  as  to  his  politics.  He  avowed  himself  to 
be  a  zealous  democrat  and  a  warm  supporter  of  the  Federal 
Union.  I  then  made  known  to  him  that  a  Nullification  meet- 
ing was  to  be  held  the  next  day  in  the  court-house,  during 
the  recess  of  the  court,  at  the  dinner  hour,  and  I  wished  him 
to  attend  it  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  counteraction  of 
a  movement  which  I  could  not  but  deem  fraught  with  the 
greatest  mischief.  He  made  no  objection  to  coming  to  the 
meeting  and  addressing  it,  except  on  the  ground  of  his  shabby 
habiliments.  But  being  persuaded  that  these  would  at  least 
not  operate  to  his  disadvantage,  but,  perhaps,  somewhat  deepen 
the  surprise  which  his  speech  was  expected  to  produce,  and 
thus  add  to  its  effect,  he  at  length  consented  to  be  on  hand 
at  the  proposed  time  and  place. 

The  next  day,  according  to  appointment,  when  the  court 
adjourned  for  dinner,  the  sheriff  proclaimed  at  the  door  of 
the  court-house  that  a  State  Rights  meeting  was  about  to 
come  off,  and  in  rushed  a  most  tumultuous  throng  to  witness 


96       BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

such  a  proceeding  as  up  to  that  moment  had  never  occurred  in 
that  particular  locality.  The  meeting  was  called  to  order,  and 
duly  organized,  and  the  gentleman  who  it  was  understood 
was  to  take  a  leading  part  in  the  discussions  of  the  hour,  rose 
to  his  feet  and  talked  very  furiously  for  a  long  time,  closing, 
with  the  presentation  of  resolutions  of  the  genuine  South  Caro- 
lina type.  The  speech  was  apparently  very  well  received,  and  a 
vote  was  about  to  be  taken  upon  the  resolutions,  when  sud- 
denly rose  to  view  my  friend  of  the  green  baize  round  jacket, 
and  announced  his  wish  to  utter  a  few  words  in  opposition  to- 
the  resolutions.  He  commenced  in  quite  a  solemn  and  formal 
manner,  and  uttered  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  impressive 
exordiums  I  ever  listened  to.  He  then  entered  upon  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  great  constitutional  question  involved,  and 
evinced  a  most  thorough  acquaintance  with  all  the  leading 
topics  appertaining  thereto,  as  well  as  with  the  then  existing 
state  of  political  parties.  He  dwelt  upon  the  value  of  the 
Federal  Union,  quoting  freely  from  Jackson's  proclamation,, 
which  had  a  short  time  before  been  promulged,  and  most  im- 
pressively depicted  the  sufferings  which  must  attend  upon 
a  civil  war,  which  he  deemed  to  be  then  plainly  menaced.- 
His  peroration  was  full  of  patriotic  enthusiasm  and  con- 
tained a  thrilling  and  felicitous  eulogy  upon  General  Jack- 
son, whose  numerous  battles  he  specified  by  name.  Hav- 
ing learned  that  many  of  the  old  soldiers  of  Jackson  were 
then  present,  he  appealed  to  them  most  earnestly,  not  to- 
abandon  their  venerated  leader  in  arms,  in  this,  his  most 
difficult  and  perilous  struggle  to  save  his  loved  country  from 
dishonor  and  ruin. 

It  is  almost  useless  to  say  that  after  such  a  speech  as  this, 
there  was  no  possibility  of  passing  the  nullifying  resolutions.. 
The  meeting  soon  broke  up  in  confusion,  and  the  judge  just 
then  returning  from  his  dinner,  the  court  resumed  its  business. 

As  soon  as  this  important  result  had  been  attained,  I  went 
to  Major  Drake,  thanked  him  for  his  noble  and  successful 
effort,  and  said  to  him :  "  Now,  sir,  your  fortune  is  made, 
if  you  choose  to  gather  the  harvest  of  renown  and  emolu- 
ment which  is  spread  out  before  you.    The  victory  which  you 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      9/ 

have  just  achieved  will  make  you  known,  and  favorably 
known,  to  all  Mississippi.  Such  oratorical  powers  as  you 
have  displayed  should  by  no  means  be  withheld  from  the 
forum.  I  propose  to  you  to  become  at  once  a  member  of  the 
bar.  I  will  hand  you  a  short  list  of  law-books  which  I  would 
urge  you  to  read  without  delay.  In  regard  to  obtaining  a 
license  to  practice,  I  will  see  that  this  shall  cost  you  no  diffi- 
culty. I  learn  that  the  district  attorneyship  in  this  district  is 
now  vacant.  Announce  youself  at  once  as  a  candidate  for 
this  position.  Your  speech  of  to-day  will  ensure  your  elec- 
tion, if  followed  up  by  one  or  two  addresses  of  similar  vigor 
in  the  other  counties  of  the  district."  He  promptly  consented 
to  act  upon  my  advice,  was  a  candidate  and  was  elected.  I 
procured  him  a  license  upon  a  mere  nominal  examination, 
and  he  afterwards  became  by  far  the  most  efficient  criminal 
prosecutor  that  this  portion  of  the  state  had  ever  known.  In 
two  months  after  the  Brandon  scene,  he  was  busily  occupied 
in  drawing  indictments,  in  counselling  grand  juries,  and  speak- 
ing before  petit  juries,  with  a  force,  ingenuity,  and  effective- 
ness which  it  was,  indeed,  most  gratifying  to  witness.  He 
never  over-acted  his  part,  however,  attempted  the  perversion  of 
the  law  or  evidence,  or  sought  to  bring  about  the  conviction 
of  those  whom  he  had  not  good  reason  to  believe  to  have 
been  justly  accused.  On  no  occasion  was  he  known  to  dis- 
play a  particle  of  personal  malevolence  towards  the  accused^ 
and  I  am  sure  never  made  an  effort  to  secure  a  conviction  not 
fully  warranted  by  the  evidence  adduced.  He  would  have  re- 
garded it  as  altogether  beneath  the  dignity  of  the  office  which 
he  held  to  seek  a  verdict  not  in  consonance  with  the  laws  of 
the  land  and  the  eternal  principles  of  justice.  But  all  the 
famed  wealth  of  Golconda  could  not  have  bribed  him  to  favor 
the  release  of  those  whom  he  felt  to  be  guilty,  or  to  relax  in  the 
least  degree  in  the  performance  of  the  duty  assigned  him. 
That  in  several  flagrant  and  yet  well  remembered  cases.  Major 
Drake  exerted  himself  in  the  prosecution  to  the  full  extent 
of  his  abilities,  in  order  to  secure  such  salutary  examples  of 
punishment  as  might  "  magnify  the  law  and  make  it  honora- 
ble," need  not  be  denied ;  but  in  cases  where  he  had  reason 


98       BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

to  believe  the  accused  to  be  really  innocent  of  the  offence 
which  he  was  alleged  to  have  committed,  he  never  hesitated  a 
moment  to  ask  of  the  court  to  allow  the  entry  of  a  nolle 
prosequi. 

Whilst  Major  Drake  was  thus  acting  as  District  Attorney, 
many  trials  occurred  of  an  exceedingly  grave  and  difficult 
character;  and  often  had  he  to  contend  against  as  able  and 
experienced  barristers  as  the  Republic  anywhere  contained. 
I  am  sure  that  he  was  never  signally  worsted  in  these  en- 
encounters,  and  that  his  reputation  as  an  advocate  was  ever 
on  the  increase  so  long  as  he  continued  to  hold  the  position 
of  District  Attorney. 

There  was  one  case  which  arose  for  trial  at  this  period 
which  seems  to  me  to  call  for  some  notice  here. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Clinton  were  one  morning 
roused  from  their  accustomed  quietude  by  the  intelligence 
that  a  murder  had  been  committed  during  the  preceding 
night,  which  seemed  to  be  marked  with  some  rather  peculiar 
circumstances.  A  man  of  much  respectability  in  the  settle- 
ment— a  Mr.  Hinson — was  reported  to  have  been  slain,  about 
the  hour  of  midnight,  by  one  of  his  slaves.  This  gentleman 
had  enjoined  the  slave — a  negro  man — not  to  intermarry  with 
any  female  who  did  not  live  upon  his  own  farm.  He  had  ex- 
pressed a  particular  objection  to  his  marrying  any  resident  of 
the  town,  for  reasons  not  needful  to  be  here  specified.  This 
prohibitory  regulation  had  been  set  at  naught  by  the  man  in 
question,  who  had  formed  a  connubial  union  with  a  mulatto 
woman  belonging  to  one  of  the  citizens  of  Clinton,  and  was  in 
the  habit  of  coming  to  town  at  night  in  order  to  enjoy  her  so- 
ciety. The  master,  becoming  apprised  of  these  facts,  deter- 
mined to  make  an  example  of  him.  He  accordingly  came 
into  Clinton  about  midnight,  called  loudly  for  the  boy  at  the 
door  of  the  cottage  where  he  was  lying  in  bed,  and,  attended 
by  a  single  resolute  friend,  broke  into  the  house  for  the  pur- 
pose of  arresting  this  second  Sampson  in  the  arms  of  his 
modern  Delilah.  As  he  advanced,  in  the  dark,  towards  the 
bed,  the  negro  man  leaped  therefrom,  armed  with  a  sharp 
knife,  and  cut  the  intruder  upon  his  pleasures   literally  in 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  99 

pieces.  Moving  then  towards  the  door,  he  encountered  Hin- 
son's  auxihary,  and  inflicted  several  terrible  gashes  also  upon 
him.  He  then  made  his  exit,  and  fled  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  town  to  some  forest-grounds  adjacent,  where  he  sought 
refuge. 

Daylight  broke  upon  a  most  horrific  scene.  Hinson  was 
now  dead,  and  his  friend  in  a  most  helpless  and  suffering  con- 
dition. A  number  of  the  young  men  of  the  town,  in  the 
progress  of  the  morning,  set  out  in  quest  of  the  murderer, 
who  for  a  long  time  evaded  the  pursuit,  and  when  discovered 
seemed  resolved  to  resist  all  attempts  to  apprehend  him.  He 
was  fired  upon  by  the  pursuing  party,  wounded  in  the  legs, 
and  so  far  disabled  as  to  be  constrained  to  surrender.  He  was 
then  brought  back  to  town,  and  carried  immediately  to  the 
room  where  his  master's  corpse  was  lying,  and  compelled  to 
approach  the  exanimate  body  and  look  upon  the  horrible 
wounds  which  he  had  inflicted.  The  wretched  creature  burst 
into  tears,  fell  upon  his  knees  by  the  side  of  his  dead  master, 
and  uttered  howls  of  remorseful  agony  which  might  have  been 
distinctly  heard  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  yards.  A  more 
distressful  spectacle  could  hardly  be  imagined. 

Meanwhile  the  excitement  awakened  by  this  occurrence  in 
town  had  become  most  intense.  Preparations  had  been  actu- 
ally made  for  the  public  execution  of  the  offender,  and  a  huge 
pile  of  wood  had  been  deposited  in  one  of  the  principal  streets 
upon  which  it  was  designed  to  burn  him  alive.  So  soon  as  I 
learned  of  these  facts,  I  determined  to  interpose  for  the  pre- 
vention of  a  deed  of  atrocity  which  I  felt  would  be  a  great 
disgrace  to  the  community,  and  from  which  no  good  whatever 
could  possibly  arise.  On  approaching  the  multitude  assembled 
for  the  purpose  of  participating  in  or  witnessing  this  monstrous 
violation  of  the  law  of  the  land  and  of  public  decency,  I 
mounted  an  empty  goods-box  lying  on  the  streetside,  and 
delivered  a  short  address,  and,  among  other  things,  informed 
the  crowd  that  I  had  been  employed  by  the  family  of  the  de- 
ceased to  aid  in  prosecuting  their  intended  victim  in  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  of  the  county,  and  that  as  the  community  had  the 
good  fortune  to  have  an  able  and  faithful  District  Attorney, 


lOO  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF    SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

there  was  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  culprit  would  be  in  a 
few  weeks  brought  to  justice.  More  easily  than  I  had  antici- 
pated, those  whom  I  addressed  consented  to  forego  their 
scheme  of  vengeance,  and  the  accused  was  quietly  conveyed 
to  the  county  jail,  where  he  remained  until  a  trial  of  his  case 
could  be  had. 

When  the  trial  came  on,  it  was  found  that  some  explanation 
of  the  particulars  connected  with  the  act  of  killing  would  be 
more  conveniently  explained  by  the  wife  of  the  prisoner  than 
in  any  other  way,  and  therefore  she  was  examined  as  a  wit- 
ness. At  the  time  of  this  trial,  marriages,  such  as  were  cus- 
tomary among  slaves,  were  not  so  clearly  recognized  by  the 
judicial  tribunals  as  to  make  her  evidence  incompetent.  Her 
demeanor  in  court  was  marked  with  much  trepidation  and 
anxiety;  and  she  was  observed  to  cast  many  a  look  of  sympa- 
thizing solicitude  towards  the  prisoner,  who  all  the  while  ex- 
hibited a  stern  and  unbroken  composure.  When  questions 
were  propounded  of  a  nature  clearly  calculated  to  develop 
facts  unfavorable  to  the  accused,  she  would  weep  profusely 
before  responding  thereto,  and  when  she  did  so  she  seemed  to 
do  it  almost  to  the  relinquishment  of  her  own  vitality.  When 
the  testimony  had  all  been  adduced,  and  the  summing  up 
commenced,  the  prisoner  still  remained  calm  and  unmoved, 
whilst  his  wife  seemed  ready  to  fall  into  convulsions.  The 
jury  retired,  and  in  a  very  few  moments  brought  in  a  verdict 
oi guilty.  Never  did  Major  Drake  acquit  himself  more  nobly, 
and  the  speech  which  he  made  was  on  all  sides  most  warmly 
commended.  The  court  adjourned'for  dinner,  leaving  the  pris- 
oner in  the  box,  in  care  of  the  sheriff,  until  the  judge  should  re- 
turn and  pass  sentence.  During  this  interval  I  lingered  in 
the  court-house,  and  beheld  a  scene  which  I  can  never  forget. 
The  prisoner  sat  quietly  in  the  same  place  which  he  had  occu- 
pied during  the  trial.  He  was  perfectly  erect,  and  seemed  not 
in  the  least  degree  discomposed.  Considering  his  very  dark 
complexion  and  the  fact  that  he  had  always  been  in  servitude, 
and  had  therefore  been  cut  off  from  all  opportunities  of  moral 
and  intellectual  training,  the  dignity  of  his  aspect  and  the 
decorous  gravity  of  his  whole  bearing  on  this  trying  occasion 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  lOI 

could  not  fail  to  impress  all  present  very  deeply.  Presently  I 
saw  the  prisoner  beckon  to  his  wife,  who  was  standing  not  far 
distant  from  him,  to  approach  more  nearly.  She  did  so;  when 
he  leaned  forward  gently,  and  in  hoarse  and  guttural  accents 
said:  "Can  you  not  come  and  see  me  once  before  I  die?" 
"I  will  if  my  master  will  let  me."  "Who  is  your  present 
master?"  I  enquired;  for  I  had  learned  that  her  former  owner 
had  sold  her,  after  the  commission  of  the  murder.  She  an- 
swered, "Squire  Garner."  Knowing  this  gentleman  well,  and 
seeing  him  to  be  in  the  court-house,  not  far  distant,  I  asked 
him,  in  quite  an  audible  voice,  to  give  his  consent  to  this  last 
interview  bet^veen  husband  and  wife.  Though  an  eminently 
humane  man,  he  hesitated  for  a  second  or  two,  evidently 
fearing  to  give  his  sanction  to  what  might  possibly  lead  to  a 
still  further  demoralization  of  this  unhappy  female.  During 
this  brief  period  of  delay,  the  eyes  of  the  woman  were  fixed 
upon  him  with  a  most  intense  and  anxious  expression.  She 
was  evidently  in  the  deepest  agony  of  soul ;  and  the  afflicted 
and  tortured  spirit  operating  upon  a  nervous  and  enfeebled 
physical  system,  a  spectacle  was  presented  to  the  view  that  a 
painter  might  have  delighted  to  portray.  The  blood  poured  in 
torrents  from  both  nostrils/  The  effect  of  this  display  was  in- 
stantaneous: Squire  Garner  at  once  agreed  to  grant  the  boon 
thus  implored.  Viewing  these  signs  of  devoted  affection 
on  the  part  of  this  apparently  deeply  distressed  woman,  the 
beautiful  lines  of  the  poet  naturally  arose  in  my  memory: 

"  Come  rest  in  this  bosom,  my  own  stricken  deer, 
Though  the  herd  have  fled  from  thee,  thy  home  is  still  here ; 
I  know  not,  I  ask  not,  if  guilt  's  in  thy  heart, 
I  but  know  that  I  love  thee,  whatever  thou  art !" 

A  few  weeks  only  elapsed  before  the  convict  expiated  upon 
the  scaffold  the  enormous  crime  which  he  was  accused  of  hav- 
ing perpetrated.  A  vast  multitude  was  in  attendance  on  this 
occasion,  of  all  classes,  colors,  and  conditions.  Among  others 
the  bereaved  wife  came  to  behold  the  taking  aw^y  of  the  life 
of  one  who  had  been  to  her  a  source  of  so  much  solicitude 
and  of  so  much  domestic  beatitude.  She  came  not  in  mourn- 
ing weeds ;  she  came  not  shedding  tears  of  nuptial  commiser- 


I02  BENXH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

ation,  and  refusing  to  be  comforted.  She  came  not  alone,  with 
tremulous  step  and  heart-breaking  agony.  But  she  came 
dressed  forth  in  gay  habiliments  ;  with  elastic  step  and  hope- 
gilded  visage;  and  attended  by  one  who  so  soon  as  this  curi- 
ous hanging-scene  should  be  over,  was  to  supply  the  place  of 
him  whom  she  was  about  to  lose  forever ;  thus  exemplifying 
in  a  manner  not  at  all  honorable  to  human  nature  or  to  the 
attributes  of  womanhood,  the  melancholy  truth  that  many  of 
our  strongest  emotions,  and  even  of  our  most  tempestuous 
passions,  are  as  fleeting  and  transient  as  the  morning-dew 
upon  the  grass  of  mid-summer,  or  the  bubble  upon  the  swift- 
running  stream  of  winter.  A  less  ardent  admirer  of  the 
female  sex  than  I  am  might  be  almost  tempted  to  exclaim 
that  the  heart  of  womanhood  hath  mysteries  that  neither 
philosophers  have  yet  penetrated,  nor  bard,  nor  novelist  de- 
picted. 

I  first  saw  William  Vannerson  in  the  year  1830.  He  was 
then  a  white-haired  gentleman,  and  was  supposed  to  be  about 
fifty  years  of  age;  though  his  physical  sprightliness  and  vigor 
seemed  not  to  be  at  all  impaired.  He  was  full  of  hope  and 
animation,  and  he  appeared  to  take  the  greatest  delight 
in  the  oratorial  exercitations  of  the  bar.  He  had  devoted  his 
attention  almost  exclusively  to  the  defence  of  persons  charged 
with  infractions  of  the  criminal  law.  He  had  much  felicity 
of  speech ;  was  much  noted  for  his  powers  of  ridicule,  and  on 
some  occasions  showed  considerable  capacity  for  awaken- 
ing the  tender  emotions  of  the  soul.  His  early  education 
was  imperfect,  nor  had  he  supplied  his  deficiency  in  this  re- 
spect by  extensive  reading  of  a  kind  best  adapted  to  improve 
and  expand  his  intellectual  faculties.  He  was  never  a  well- 
read  lawyer,  and  I  suppose  that  he  had  seldom,  if  ever,  filed 
a  bill  in  Chancery,  or  argued  a  case  of  much  difficulty  on  the 
civil  side  of  the  docket  in  common  law  courts.  He  was,  when 
I  first  met  him,  practicing  his  profession  very  actively  in  the 
Cit>'  of  Natchez.  He  subsequently  located  in  the  town  of 
Monticello,  and  attended  for  many  years  some  dozen  or  more 
courts  in  what  was  known  as  the  Piney- woods  portion  of 
Mississippi.     He  had  extraordinary  tact  in  securing  employ- 


r 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST.  IO3 

ment  in  cases  of  the  kind  best  suited  to  his  taste,  and  had  the 
reputation  of  being  quite  successful.  When  he  did  not  deem 
it  altogether  safe  to  go  to  trial,  he  showed  wonderful  address 
in  obtaining  a  continuance,  and  it  is  related  of  him  that  on  one 
occasion  an  astute  and  learned  judge,  who  is  yet  living,  when 
Vannerson  applied  for  continuance,  after  hesitating  for  a  few 
minutes  whether  he  would  accede  to  his  wish,  on  Vanner- 
son's  announcing  his  intention  to  draw  up  an  affidavit  in  sup- 
port of  his  application,  hesitated  no  longer,  saying:  "Oh! 
Mr.  Vannerson  if  you  are  going  to  draw  up  an  affidavit,  the 
continuance  which  you  ask  will  be  at  once  granted." 

Mr.  Vannerson  died  only  a  year  or  two  since,  and  I  am 
told,  that  when  in  extremis,  he  confessed  to  being  one  hun- 
dred and  nine  years  old.  Vannerson  was  very  remarkable  for 
the  hopefulness  of  his  temper,  his  ambition  for  distinction  as  a 
forensic  advocate,  his  genial  habits,  and  his  multitudinous 
stock  of  personal  anecdotes,  all  of  them  of  a  ludicrous  cast, 
and  some  bordering  upon  obscenity.  He  had  not  a  slight 
alloy  of  egotism  ;  but  it  was  always  of  an  inoffensive  character, 
not  at  all  implying  envy  of  others,  or  a  desire  to  enhance  his 
own  personal  consequence  by  detracting  from  those  with  whom 
he  was  thrown  into  collision.  Thinking  very  highly  of  his 
own  powers  as  a  speaker,  he  assumed  the  soubriquet,  some 
forty  years  ago,  of  the  " Napoieo?t  of  the  bar-"  and  his  asso- 
ciates were  kind  enough  often  to  allude  to  him  by  that  high- 
sounding  title,  and  especially  when  he  was  himself  present. 
One  of  the  last  occasions  on  which  I  remember  him  to  have 
appeared  in  the  City  of  Jackson  was  before  a  Court  of  Inquirj'' 
composed  of  several  justices  of  the  peace,  in  a  case  of  alleged 
murder.  He  reached  the  place  of  examination  after  one  or 
two  witnesses  had  testified,  and,  on  taking  his  seat,  and  look- 
ing around  him  to  see  what  adversary  he  would  have  to  en- 
counter, he  deliberately  wrote  on  a  piece  of  paper,  which  he 
handed  to  the  opposing  lawyer,  these  words  :  "  The  Napoleon 
of  the  bar  has  indeed  arrived,  but  he  regrets  to  find  that  he  is 
to  meet  a  Wellington^  The  gentleman  thus  addressed,  scrib- 
bled on  the  same  paper  in  response:  "  Napoleon  is  not  in  the 
smallest  danger  of  a  Waterloo  defeat,  as  it  is  not  possible  that 


104      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

a  Blucher,  with  his  fierce  Prussian  troops,  will  appear  upon 
the  field  of  battle." 

Mr.  Vannerson,  though  married  twice,  had  no  children  ;  but 
General  Allen,  who  was  killed  by  Colonel -A.  K.  McClung  in 
a  duel  about  forty-two  or  three  years  ago,  was  his  stepson,  to 
whom  he  was  most  tenderly  attached.  It  chanced  that  I  saw 
him  not  long  after  this  lamentable  affair  occurred,  and  I  re- 
member him  to  have  manifested  the  deepest  distress  over  the 
decease  of  one  so  dear  to  him.  I  knew  both  of  these  com- 
batants well,  and  can  testify  to  their  being  both  of  them  young 
men  of  the  richest  intellectual  promise,  and  of  the  most  un- 
doubted gallantry.  Each  of  them  was  just  entering  upon  the 
practice  of  the  law,  and  their  respective  friends  were  specula- 
ting very  favorably  as  to  their  future  career. 

Of  Colonel  Alexander  K.  McClung  I  have  spoken  else- 
where with  some  minuteness.  But  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  leave 
him  out  of  the  list  of  distinguished  attorneys  who  formerly 
adorned  the  bar  of  Mississippi.  He  never  enjoyed  a  large 
and  lucrative  practice  at  the  bar,  for  which  only  one  good 
reason  could  be  assigned — he  never  devoted  himself  arduously 
to  his  chosen  profession.  He  had  read  many  works  of  science 
and  general  literature,  but  he  had  never  looked  into  many  law 
books.  With  the  elementary  principles  of  jurisprudence  he 
was  thoroughly  conversant,  and  no  man  delighted  more  than 
he  did  in  reading,  or  in  listening  to  the  oral  enunciation  of,  a 
profound,  ingenious  and  lucid  legal  argument.  The  ordinary 
questions  of  menm  and  tinnn  had  no  charms  for  his  proud  and 
soaring  intellect.  His  argumentative  powers,  when  fully 
brought  forth,  were  such  as  to  awaken  the  highest  admiration. 
Had  he  been  able  to  endure  the  vigiiiti  annomm  hiaibrationes 
(as  Blackstone  calls  them),  there  is  no  knowing  the  height  of 
celebrity  which  he  would  have  been  capable  of  attaining. 
Many  likened  his  intellect  to  that  of  his  illustrious  uncle, 
Chief  Justice  Marshall;  and  his  eulogy  upon  the  life  and 
character  of  Henry  Clay,  which  I  had  the  pleasure  of  listening 
to  in  the  State  House  at  Jackson,  will  compare  favorably  with 
any  of  the  numerous  eulogies  delivered  upon  the  renowned 
orator  and  statesman  of  Kentucky,  which  his  lamented  decease 


i 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      IO5 

evoked.  Growing  tired  of  life,  he  died  by  his  own  hand,  a 
few  years  subsequent  to  this  his  latest  great  intellectual 
achievement. 

John  M.  Chilton  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  belonged  to 
a  family  connection,  there  resident,  of  the  highest  respecta- 
bility. He  was  a  sound  and  well-informed  lawyer,  an  easy 
and  forcible  speaker,  and  was  for  some  years  engaged  in  a 
very  profitable  practice  in  the  State  of  Mississippi,  He  after- 
wards removed  to  New  Orleans,  where  he  did  not  long  sur- 
vive. 

Nicholas  Coleman  was  bom  in  Kentucky,  and  represented 
one  of  the  congressional  districts  of  that  State  when  he  was 
not  yet  thirty  years  of  age.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Vicks- 
burg,  where  for  many  years  he  was  much  respected  as  a  law- 
yer, and  universally  beloved  in  social  life.  He  was  a  person 
of  amiable  temper,  of  refined  and  gentlemanly  manners,  and 
maintained,  during  his  whole  career  at  the  bar,  a  most  credit- 
able standing. 

Beverly  Hughes  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  He  located  very 
early  in  life  in  Huntsville,  Alabama.  Here  he  was  quite  suc- 
cessful in  the  accumulation  of  business  as  a  lawyer,  and  ac- 
quired much  general  popularity.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
convention  which  framed  the  Constitution  of  Alabama,  and 
sustained  in  that  body,  marked  as  it  was  for  ability,  a  highly 
creditable  rank.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Vicksburg,  where 
he  died  about  a  half  century  since. 

When  Mr.  Hughes  died  he  was  in  partnership  with  a  Mr. 
Hinman,  whom  I  once  knew  very  well,  but  whose  Christian 
name  has  now  escaped  my  memory.  Mr.  Hinman  was  a 
native  of  New  England,  had  there  received  a  thorough  educa- 
tion, and  enjoyed  much  reputation  at  one  time  in  Mississippi, 
both  as  a  cogent  and  polished  speaker  and  a  pointed  and 
vigorous  writer.  He  was  a  man  of  most  genial  disposition,  of 
great  vivacity  of  temperament,  and  of  an  amiable  and  sym- 
pathizing heart.  It  is  painful  to  be  compelled  to  add  that 
he  died  a  victim  to  intemperance.  I  cannot  say  that  I 
ever  saw  him  absolutely  sober,  nor  do  I  believe  that  I  ever 
met  with  him  when  he  was  so  stupefied  by  strong  drink  as  to  be 


I06     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

wholly  unfit  for  rational  conversation.  He  was  for  some  years 
an  object  of  general  commiseration  on  the  part  of  his  brethren 
of  the  bar,  to  all  of  whom  he  had  ever  been  kind  and  obliging. 

During  the  last  years  of  Mr.  Hinman's  life  he  was  profes- 
sionally associated  with  a  gentleman  whom  I  had  familiarly 
known  from  a  child.  William  B.  Redd  was  a  native  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  had  at  no  time  received  the  advantages  of  a  classical 
education.  He  wandered  forth  from  the  bosom  of  the  "Ancient 
Dominion"  before  he  was  fully  grown  to  manhood.  Where 
he  read  law  I  never  knew,  but  he  had  never  fully  mastered  his 
profession.  He  had  evidently  never  devoted  himself  very 
closely  to  the  study  of  any  branch  of  science.  He  was  one  of 
the  handsomest  men  I  ever  saw,  being  of  majestic  height,  of 
well-shaped  bust  and  limbs,  and  being  blest  with  a  face  every 
feature  of  which  was  calculated  to  charm  the  gentler  sex.  His 
eyes  were  large  and  of  dazzling  brightness;  his  forehead  was 
of  noble  expansion  and  without  a  furrow,  and  he  had  a  profu- 
sion of  dark  chestnut  hair  which  it  was  most  charming  to  look 
upon.  His  voice  was  of  the  most  exquisite  sweetness  of  into- 
nation, and  his  physical  movements  were  replete  with  grace 
and  impressiveness.  He  had  not  the  least  turn  for  argument 
of  any  kind,  and  I  never  knew  him  even  to  attempt  it.  He 
sometimes  was  not  a  little  pathetic  at  the  bar  in  cases  admit- 
ting of  it,  and  he,  on  one  or  two  occasions,  was  said  to  have 
delivered  popular  harangues  not  a  little  pleasing  to  those 
whom  they  were  intended  to  impress.  He  was  much  devoted 
to  genial  companionship,  and  was  unhappy  enough  to  outlive 
his  reputation  as  a  speaker.  I  never  saw  him  angry  in  my 
life;  he  was  wholly  devoid  of  envy  and  all  illiberal  feeling,  and 
I  am  satisfied  that  there  was  not  a  human  being  known  to  him 
whom  he  would  not  willingly  have  aided  and  comforted  so 
far  as  that  was  in  his  power. 

Buckner  C.  Harris  was  born  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  and 
belonged  to  a  family  connection  unusually  prolific  in  abilities 
such  as  conduce  most  to  the  acquisition  of  personal  popularity 
and  high  social  rank.  Whilst  he  remained  in  the  State  of 
Mississippi  he  was  located  in  the  county  of  Copiah,  where  he 
was  for  many  years  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  bar.     As  a 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      ID/ 

Circuit  Judge  he  was  much  respected,  and  he  would  probably 
have  reached  higher  official  positions  in  Mississippi  than  it 
was  his  fortune  to  attain,  had  he  not  removed,  more  than 
twenty  years  ago,  to  the  State  of  Texas. 

I  recollect  an  anecdote  I  once  heard  from  him,  which  I 
shall  here  take  the  liberty  of  reciting.  Judge  Harris'  judi- 
cial district  embraced  the  county  of  Simpson,  of  which  West- 
ville  was  the  seat  of  justice.  Here  there  were  several  little 
taverns  where  plain  accommodations  were  afforded  to  such 
as  might  choose  to  apply  for  the  same.  A  man  had  recently 
gotten  possession  of  one  of  these  establishments,  and  very 
naturally  desired  to  obtain  as  large  a  share  of  the  public  pat- 
ronage as  he  could.  A  term  of  the  Circuit  Court  was  to  com- 
mence in  a  few  days.  So  mine  host  availed  himself  of  his 
ability  to  write  legibly  by  addressing  a  letter  to  the  Judge, 
urging  him,  when  he  should  come  to  Westvillc,  to  give  his- 
hotel  a  trial,  and  to  bring  in  his  company  all  the  attorneys  he- 
could,  promising  very  precisely  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  ac- 
commodate them  satisfactorily.  The  Judge,  painfully  re- 
membering that  he  had  never  had  any  but  the  most  uncom- 
fortable quarters  in  Westville  on  former  occasions,  when 
holding  Court  there,  readily  closed  with  the  proposal,  and 
reached  the  hotel  in  question  on  a  bright  Sunday  evening. 
He  asked  to  be  shown  the  room  he  was  to  occupy,  and  learn- 
ing the  number  thereof,  he  proceeded  to  it  without  delay. 
On  reaching  the  door  of  the  room  and  opening  it,  he  found  «l 
gentleman  and  lady  in  it,  and  immediately  returned  and  asked 
to  be  shown  another  room.  Some  little  delay  occurred  before 
this  was  done,  and  when  he  reached  the  second  room  he  found 
that  also  occupied.  He  then  came  back  to  the  bar  and  rather 
indignantly  addressed  the  host  upon  this  irritating  subject, 
saying  to  him:  "Pray,  sir,  are  you  keeping  a  bawdy-house? 
I  found  the  first  room  you  directed  me  to  occupy  already  in 
possession  of  a  man  and  woman — the  latter  of  whom  I  under- 
stand to  be  your  wife — who  were  lying  together  upon  the  bed. 
On  opening  the  door  of  the  second  room,  I  found  the  same 
woman  lying  on  the  bed  there,  but  attended  by  another  man., 
I  wish  to  know  what  all  this  means."     "  My  dear  Judge,"  ex- 


108      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

■claimed  the  good-natured  tavern-keeper,  "I  beg  you  will  be 
-composed.  It  is  not  possible  that  I  can  for  the  present  say  a 
single  word  concerning  the  matter  of  which  you  complain. 
You  see,  my  dear  Judge,  I  am  a  candidate  for  constable  in 
this  beat,  and  very  hard  run  for  votes.  Were  I  to  make  any 
parade  of  my  wrongs  before  the  election  shall  have  occurred, 
I  should  inevitably  be  beaten.  The  election  will  come  off  to- 
morrow, after  which  I  promise  you  that  there  shall  be  no 
similar  cause  of  complaint." 

Judge  Harris  was  still  a  resident  of  the  county  of  Copiah 
■when  I  had  the  honor  to  be  invited  thither  some  time  in  the 
year  1839,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  part  in  the  trial  of  a  case 
of  alleged  murder.  It  was  then  that  I  first  saw  a  nephew  of  his 
who  has  attained  great  distinction  both  as  a  lawyer  and  states- 
man. Wiley  P.  Harris,  who  has  so  long  held  a  high  rank  at 
the  Mississippi  bar  for  eloquence,  learning,  and  argumentative 
power,  was  at  the  period  referred  to  about  twenty-one  years 
of  age.  I  was  much  impressed  by  his  modesty  of  aspect  and 
demeanor,  his  bright  and  hopeful  face,  and  his  elegant  and  be- 
coming costume.  He  made  a  speech  on  this  occasion  which 
-would  have  established  his  reputation  at  any  bar  in  America, 
and  awakened  expectations  of  future  fame  and  eminence 
which  it  is  no  flattery  to  say  have  been  fully  realized.  Mr. 
Harris  delivered  several  Speeches  in  the  Congress  of  the 
Union,  a  year  or  two  before  the  late  unhappy  civil  war,  which 
-are  yet  spoken  of  in  terms  of  warm  commendation.  A  man 
of  his  commanding  abilities  and  extended  influence  has  a  most 
favorable  opportunity  opened  to  him  in  the  state  where  he  has 
so  long  resided,  of  reconciling  conflicting  factions,  and  restor- 
ing general  concord  and  brotherhood  in  the  bosom  of  a  much 
distracted  and  deeply  suffering  commonwealth. 

George  Winchester  is  a  name' which  is  doubtless  yet  familiar 
in  Mississippi.  He  was  born  in  one  of  the  New  England 
States,  and  presented  all  the  indications  of  having  been  well 
derived,  and  of  having  been  carefully  trained  and  brought  up 
in  the  best  society.  His  knowledge  of  the  ancient  classic 
writers  was  far  from  being  superficial,  and  what  he  had  learned 
at  school,  his  tenacious  memory  retained  even  in  old  age. 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  IO9 

For  many  years,  he  maintained  a  high  reputation  for  legal 
learning,  and  his  assiduity  in  the  performance  of  professional 
duties  knew  little  relaxation  whilst  I  had  intercourse  with  him. 
He  was  not  an  orator;  but  he  spoke  always  in  refined  and 
polished  language,  and  with  impressive  kindness  and  urbanity. 
I  do  not  suppose  that  a  single  word  of  personal  incivility,  or 
of  coarse  revilement,  ever  passed  his  lips  at  the  bar.  His 
mind  was  more  subtle  than  vigorous;  more  elastic  in  its  move- 
ments, than  profound  in  its  explorations.  He  was  much  given 
to  the  drawing  of  overnice  distinctions,  and  sometimes  wearied 
the  court  with  the  tedious  and  elaborate  discussion  of  matters 
altogether  of  subordinate  importance,  scarcely  deserving  to  be 
passingly  alluded  to.  I  remember  that  when  on  one  occasion. 
the  Supreme  Court  decided  a  case  in  his  favor  which  had  been 
for  many  years  pending,  and  in  which  a  considerable  amount 
was  involved.  Judge  Winchester  complained  most  vehemently,, 
not  of  the  result^  of  course,  but  of  the  reasons  given  by  their 
honors  for  the  conclusion  at  which  their  minds  had  arrived. 

Judge  Winchester  never  married,  and  had  many  of  the 
eccentricities  commonly  attributed  to  protracted  celibacy  in 
either  sex ;  but  a  more  honest,  benevolent,  and  patriotic  man 
has  perhaps  never  lived. 

To  the  State  of  Kentucky  Richard  H.  Webber  owed  his 
birth.  His  professional  career  was  commenced  in  what  was 
known  as  the  Piney-woods  portion  of  the  State  of  Mississippi. 
His  figure  was  ungainly;  his  manners  were  marked  with  awk- 
wardness to  a  degree  very  uncommon,  and  almost  ludicrous ; 
in  his  dress  he  was  not  only  untasteful  but  even  slovenly.  His 
heart  was  full  of  kindness  and  his  animal  spirits  were  exuber- 
ant. He  was  passionately  fond  of  conversation,  and  delighted 
much  in  forensic  argument.  He  was  deeply  read  in  his  pro- 
fession, but  had  scarcely  read  anything  else.  He  never  at- 
tempted eloquence.  A  more  astute  and  logical  mind  than  he 
possessed  is  difficult  to  be  conceived  of,  and  1  have  heard  ar- 
guments from  his  lips  that  would  have  done  no  discredit  to 
any  lawyer  living  or  dead.  His  genial  temper  very  often  in- 
volved him  in  excesses  which  it  was  painful  to  witness;  but  I 
never  knew  his  bright  and  active  intellect  entirely  overwhelmed 


110  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST, 

by  that  direst  of  all  enemies  to  intellectual  pre-eminence — 
Alcohol.  I  recollect  on  one  occasion  the  occurrence  of  an 
-amusing  scene  between  Colonel  Webber  and  one  of  his  brother 
-attorneys,  which  may  be  regarded  as  more  or  less  illus- 
trative of  character.  Webber  had  been  imbibing  very  freely ; 
when  an  important  case  of  his  was  called,  which  stood  on  de- 
murrer. The  opposing  attorney  was  in  a  similarly  awkward 
fix ;  and  the  latter  labored  under  an  additional  disqualification 
•of  which  he  was  profoundly  conscious  :  unlike  Webber,  whose 
mind  was  capable  of  resisting  the  ravages  of  liquor  upon  his 
intellectual  faculties,  this  unfortunate  gentleman  when  in  liquor 
uniformly  lost  his  mental  equipoise  and  was  rendered  utterly 
unfit  for  everything  like  logical  digladiation.  He,  therefore, 
rose  and  asked  of  the  court,  in  tremulous  accents  and  with 
most  forlorn  expression  of  countenance,  that  the  case  just 
called  might  be  passed  by  for  the  present,  he  being  exceed- 
ingly indisposed.  Webber  well  understanding  the  shrewd 
policy  of  the  adversary,  and  eager  to  bring  on  the  contest 
without  delay,  rose  and  addressed  his  honor  somewhat  in  the 
following  manner :  "  May  it  please  the  court :  I  really  regret 
to  learn  that  my  worthy  brother  is  indisposed,  and  I  should 
not  insist  upon  arguing  this  case  at  the  present  moment,  but 
for  the  fact  that  I  am  suffering  from  indisposition  also  of  the 
self-same  kind,  and  do  not  know  when  I  shall  get  better;  so 
that  as  the  gentleman  and  myself  are  in  precisely  the  same 
fix,  and  both  of  us  chance  to  be  now  in  court — as  it  is  possi- 
ble we  may  not  be  on  any  future  occasion  when  the  case  shall 
be  again  called — I  should  prefer  going  on  with  the  argument 
at  once."  His  Honor,  fully  appreciating  the  state  of  affairs 
between  these  two  distinguished  attorneys,  and  quite  relishing 
the  joke,  decided  to  hear  them  at  once.  It  is  almost  needless 
to  say  that  Webber  won  an  easy  victory,  at  least  so  far  as  the 
argument  was  concerned.  What  was  the  final  decision  of  the 
court  though  upon  the  question  involved,  I  did  not  learn. 

John  W.  C.  Watson  was  born  in  Virginia,  and  had  estab- 
lished a  high  reputation  there  as  a  lawyer  before  his  removal  to 
the  State  of  Mississippi.  On  locating  at  Holly  Springs,  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  state,  he  very  soon  secured  that  rank  at 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  I  1 1 

the  bar  which  he  has  ever  since  continued  to  hold.  He  is 
undoubtedly  one  of  the  best  informed  attorneys  that  ever  left 
Virginia  for  the  great  West,  is  a  smooth  and  graceful  speaker, 
cMar,  animated  and  forcible.  He  has  been  long  renowned  for 
his  professional  industry,  his  pure  and  unbending  integrity, 
and  his  exemption  from  all  the  fashionable  immoralities  of  the 
age.  A  purer  exemplar  oi  all  that  is  becoming  and  honorable 
in  the  forensic  character,  no  portion  of  our  country  has  ever 
presented  to  the  view  of  mankind. 

With  the  celebrated  Roger  Barton,  who,  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  sustained  an  almost  unequalled  reputation  in  the 
courts  of  Mississippi  as  an  advocate  in  criminal  causes,  I  en- 
joyed a  familiar  acquaintance  as  early  as  the  year  1829.  He 
was  undoubtedly  both  a  brilliant  and  a  forcible  speaker,  and 
as  a  judicious  and  adroit  manager  of  that  class  of  causes  to 
which  he  principally  devoted  himself,  has  left  behind  him  a 
reputation  such  as  few  attorneys  have  been  able  to  acquire. 
He  was  just  about  removing  to  the  State  of  California,  (as  I 
chance  to  know  from  a  letter  of  his  addressed  to  myself) 
when  he  suddenly  departed  this  life,  to  the  deep  regret  of  his 
numerous  friends  and  admirers.  Mr.  Barton  was  born  in 
East  Tennessee,  and  is  reported  to  have  been  quite  a  near 
relative  of  the  famous  Missouri  senator  of  the  same  name,  the 
colleague  of  Mr.  Benton,  and  so  familiarly  known  twenty 
years  ago,  as  the  "  Little  Red."  This  last-named  gentleman 
was  one  of  the  most  vivacious,  witty,  bitterly  sarcastic,  and 
glowingly  eloquent  speakers  that  the  Mississippi  Valley  has 
ever  sent  to  the  council-hall  of  the  nation. 

Next  to  Roger  Barton,  I  suppose  that  General  Reuben 
Davis  may  be  recognized  as  the  most  successful  defender  of 
criminals  in  the  northern  counties  of  Mississippi;  but  as  this 
gentleman  is  yet  living  and  actively  concerned  in  practice,  it 
may  be  prudent  for  me  not  to  expatiate  here  either  upon  his 
professional  achievements  or  his  many  well-known  virtues  in 
domestic  and  social  life. 

Some  time  between  1838  and  1840,  if  my  memory  serves 
me  faithfully,  Luke   Lea,  Esq.,  made  his  first  appearance  at 


112  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF    SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

the  Mississippi  bar.  This  gentleman  brought  with  him  from 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  a  high  reputation  for  general  intelli- 
gence and  amiability  of  manners.  He  was  found  to  improve 
much  upon  acquaintance,  and  soon  attained  a  most  respecta- 
ble standing  at  the  bar,  and  a  most  remarkable  personal  pop- 
ularity, lam  rejoiced  to  learn  that  he  is  still  living  and  pros- 
perous, and  that  he  has  so  demeaned  himself  for  the  last  ten 
or  fifteen  years,  under  the  trying  circumstances  which  have 
surrounded  him,  as  to  command  the  respect  and  kindly  re- 
gard of  all  with  whom  he  has  been  brought  into  contact. 

I  conclude  what  I  have  to  sa}^  at  present  upon  the  Bench 
and  Bar  of  Mississippi  of  former  days  with  a  few  remarks 
upon  a  gentleman  now  occupying  an  important  and  responsible 
position  in  public  life,  and  of  whom  much  has  been  said  of 
late,  in  various  forms,  both  in  commendation  and  in  decrial. 
L,  Q.  C.  Lamar  was  born  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  and  is  one 
of  a  family  connection  there  well  known  as  alike  respectable 
and  influential.  Mr.  Lamar  has  had  much  more  experience 
in  connection  with  public  affairs  than  most  men  of  his  years 
and  wheresoever  he  has  appeared  he  has  been  able  to  com- 
mand general  respect  and  to  win  his  way  to  the  confidence 
and  esteem  even  of  his  political  adversaries.  He  is  undoubt- 
edly a  man  of  unswerving  integrity  and  unblemished  honor, 
and  presents  a  most  happy  blending  of  high-bred  courtesy 
and  manly  energy  and  independence.  His  literary  and  scien- 
tific attainments  are  of  a  very  high  order;  he  is  both  a  grace- 
ful and  forcible  speaker,  and  among  the  best  informed  poli- 
ticians of  the  age.  His  present  position  in  Congress  is  one 
of  great  and  peculiar  responsibility,  and  it  will  require  all  his 
acknowledged  abilities  and  tact  to  equal  the  expectations  of 
those  who  are  now  acting  under  his  leadership.  His  knowl- 
edge of  law  is  unquestionable,  and  his  reputation  as  a  forensic 
advocate  is  equal  to  that  which  he  enjoys  as  a  popular  ora- 
tor. The  South  contains  no  man  at  present,  who,  upon  the 
whole,  can  be  pronounced  superior  to  the  subject  of  this  no- 
tice, in  all  the  qualities  which  ensure  capacity  for  public  use- 
fulness and  lasting  renown.     Thus  much  have  I  felt  justified 


BEN'CH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  II3 

in  saying  in  reference  to  a  gentleman  with  whom  I  have  been 
at  no  time  in  full  political  accord  upon  the  many  grave  public 
questions  which  have  risen  for  solution  in  the  last  twenty- 
five  years ;  but  for  whose  manliness,  affability,  and  unbending 
sense  of  justice  I  have  ever  cherished  a  profound  regard. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Early  History  of  Tennessee. — Civil  Troubles — General  Remarks  upon  the  Origin  of 
Society  and  Government. — Quotation  from  Cicero. — Knoxville  Bar. — Hugh  L.  White. 
— Andrew  Jackson. — Judge  White's  Death,  and  Public  Notices  thereof. —  Judge 
Reese. — William  C.  Preston. — John  Bell. — Judge  White's  Vindication  of  East  Ten- 
nessee.— State  of  Franklin  — Humorous  Anecdote — Andrew  Jackson  as  a  Lawyer 
and  Judgp. — John  Overton. —  John  Haywood. — William  L.  Brown. — Henry  Crabb. 
— Henry  Crabb,  Jr.;  his  tragic  fate. 

The  judicial  functionaries  and  the  members  of  the  bar  who 
in  former  days  were  connected  with  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice in  the  great  and  populous  State  of  Tennessee  have  received 
far  less  particular  attention  heretofore  than  I  should  be  glad  to 
bestow  upon  them.  It  is  confidently  believed  that  no  other 
State  west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains  has  supplied  richer  and 
more  varied  materials  for  historical  notice  of  the  kind  referred 
to  than  the  renowned  commonwealth  just  named.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  premise,  after  what  has  been  already  several 
times  mentioned  elsewhere  in  regard  to  this  matter,  that  in 
the  cursory  sketches  which  I  am  about  to  present,  many  per- 
sonages famous  in  the  days  of  yore,  and  of  no  little  influ- 
ence in  the  community  of  which  they  were  actual  and  useful 
members,  will  receive  no  special  mention,  or  be  so  briefly 
alluded  to  as  to  communicate  but  little  knowledge  to  the 
reader  of  the  scenes  in  which  they  acted,  or  of  the  virtues  and 
abilities  of  which  they  gave  evidence. 

At  th-e  close  of  the  great  struggle  for  national  independence, 
the  centennial  celebration  of  which  is  now  so  universally 
attracting  the  attention  of  our  countrymen,  as  well  as  of  the 
public-spirited  inhabitants  of  other  lands,  the  beautiful  and  ro- 
mantic region  bordering  on  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  and 
now  known  as  East  Tennessee,  was  very  sparsely  settled  by 
members  of  the  Caucasian  race.  Most  of  these  early  pioneers 
were  men  of  a  singularly  bold  and  enterprising  character,  not 
a  few  of  whom  had  been  distinguished  as  soldiers  or  officers 
in  the  Revolutionary  contest,  as  well  as  in  multiplied  conflicts 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  II5 

with  the  fierce  Indian  tribes  who  yet  dwelt  in  their  vicinage, 
and  who  were  constantly  annoying  them  with  hostile  incur- 
sions ill  all  the  forms  known  to  savage  warfare.  Under  such 
circumstances  as  these  it  would  have  been  indeed  surprising 
had  not  these  brave  and  hardy  adventurers  been  inclined  far 
more  to  rely  upon  their  own  courage  and  vigor  for  protection 
and  safety,  than  on  the  tardy  and  spiritless  aid  which  the  gov- 
ernment of  North  Carolina  seems  in  the  beginning  to  have 
afforded  them.  The  principles  of  law  and  order  were  but 
little  known  in  these  remote  and  rarely  visited  localities,  and 
tradition  asserts  many  instances  of  social  collision  and  strife 
to  have  occurred,  such  as  in  older  and  more  perfectly  regu- 
lated communities  are  seldom  if  ever  known.  The  scenes  of 
severe  suffering  and  peril  through  which  it  w'as  the  fortune  of 
these  primeval  colonists  to  pass  have  been  long  since  chroni- 
cled by  historians  whose  thrilling  and  graphic  narratives  will 
be  found,  by  such  as  are  at  all  curious  about  such  matters,  to- 
have  more  than  the  charms  of  romance.  Well  might  be  ap- 
plied to  some  of  these  dwellers  in  the  mountain  fastnesses  and 
secluded  valleys  of  East  Tennessee,  at  this  period,  the  lan- 
guage of  the  renowned  Roman  orator,  who,  on  a  very  mem- 
orable occasion,  is  known  to  have  said  in  hearing  of  a  Roman 
court:  "  For  who  of  you,  O  judges,  is  ignorant  that  the  nature 
of  things  has  been  such,  that  at  one  time  men,  before  there 
was  any  natural  or  civil  law  fully  laid  down,  waijdcring  in  a 
straggling  and  disorderly  manner  over  the  country,  had  just 
that  property  which  they  could  either  appropriate  or  hold 
by  their  own  personal  strength  or  vigor,  by  means  of  war  or 
bloodshed  ?  Those  men,  therefore,  who  showed  themselves 
to  be  most  eminent  for  virtue  and  wisdom  having  considered 
men's  aptitude  for  instruction  and .  their  natural  disposition 
and  faculties,  collected  gradually  into  one  place  those  who 
were  previously  scattered  abroad,  and  brought  them  over 
from  their  previous  lawless  and  irregular  way  of  life,  to  justice 
and  mildness  of  manners.  Then  came  those  constitutions, 
devised  for  the  utility  of  man,  which  we  call  commonwealths ; 
then  came  collections  of  men,  which  were  subsequently  called 
states ;    then   men    surrounded   with   walls    sets   of  houses 


Il6  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

joined  together,  which  we  now  call  cities ;  and  divine  and 
human  laws  began  to  be  recognized.  And  there  is  no 
point  (he  continues)  in  which  there  is  so  much  difference  be- 
tween this  manner  of  life,  polished  by  civilization,  and  that 
savage  one,  as  in  the  fact  of  law  being  the  ruling  principle  in 
the  one  and  violence  in  the  other.  If  we  do  not  choose  to  be 
guided  by  the  one,  we  must  adopt  the  other^  Do  we  wish 
violence  to  be  put  an  end  to  ?  Law  must  inevitably  prevail ; 
that  is  to  say,  courts  of  justice  must;  for  in  them  all  law  and 
justice  are  comprehended.  Do  we  disapprove  of  courts  of 
justice,  or  are  they  destroyed  or  suspended  ?  In  a  moment 
violence  must  be  supreme." 

Though  the  singularly  healthful  and  attractive  region  con- 
cerning which  I  have  been  just  speaking,  was,  at  the  early 
period  referred  to,  lamentably  deficient  in  most  of  those  facil- 
ities for  high  moral  culture,  as  well  as  of  those  invaluable  ed- 
ucational advantages  which  the  greater  portion  of  our  country 
is  known  to  possess  at  the  present  moment,  yet  there  were 
even  then  to  be  found  among  the  hardy  settlers  here  located, 
not  a  few  individuals,  who  were  destined,  in  the  fulness  of 
time,  to  achieve  great  and  solid  renown  as  wise  and  beneficent 
legislators,  as  distinguished  warriors,  as  brilliant  and  effective 
forensic  advocates,  as  erudite  and  useful  judges,  or  as  active 
and  influential  political  leaders.  It  was  in  the  year  1796,  that 
one  of  these  made  his  first  appearance  at  the  Knoxville  bar, 
as  a  candidate  for  professional  fame,  whose  name  has  since 
been  honorably  associated  with  many  of  the  most  memorable 
events  of  American  history.  I  allude  to  the  late  Hugh 
Lawson  White.  This  personage  is  known  to  have  received 
but  an  imperfect  education — never  to  have  at  any  time  entered 
any  college  or  academy  as  a  pupil,  and  to  have  been  indebted 
chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  to  his  own  laudable  ambition  for 
knowledge  and  the  assiduity  which  he  employed  for  its  ac- 
quisition, for  the  large  attainments  which  he  eventually  made 
in  almost  every  kind  of  learning  which  could  give  vigor  and 
expansion  to  his  native  faculties,  and  fit  him  for  the  distin- 
guished part  which  he  was  destined  to  act  in  association  with 
many  of  the  most  eminent  public  men  that  the  country  has 


BENXH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST.  11/ 

ever  produced.  He  succeeded  almost  at  once  in  acquiring 
prominence  as  a  practitioner  of  !avv,  and  as  early  as  his 
twenty-eighth  year  was  called  to  preside  in  the  Superior  Court 
of  the  State,  at  that  time  the  highest  judicial  tribunal  of  Ten- 
nessee. In  this  position  he  officiated  with  great  credit  for  six 
years.  In  January  1810,  he  became  one  of  the  judges  of 
what  was  known  as  the  Court  of  Errors  and  Appeals,  in 
which  capacity  he  served  with  a  constantly  increasing  reputa- 
tion; after  which  he  was  tendered  a  membership  of  what  was 
called  the  Spanish  Commission,  and  in  that  high  and  respon- 
sible position  became  most  favorably  known  to  the  whole  Re- 
public. At  the  termination  of  his  duties  as  Commissioner  he 
was  unanimously  elected  by  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee  to  a 
seat  upon  the  bench  of  the  Court  of  Errors  and  Appeals, 
which  office  he  promptly  declined,  preferring  to  resume  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  Judge  White  had  repeatedly 
served  in  the  State  Legislature,  where  he  had  always  acted  a 
leading  part,  previous  to  his  being  elected,  in  the  year  1825, 
to  a  seat  in  the  National  Senate  for  the  unexpired  term  in 
that  body,  which  had  become  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  his 
commission  as  senator  by  General  Andrew  Jackson.  In  this 
dignified  position  he  continued  to  officiate  uninterruptedly  for 
the  space  of  fifteen  years.  In  the  month  of  Januaiy,  1840, 
he  resigned  his  place  in  this  body,  in  consequence  of  his  hav- 
ing received  instructions  from  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee  to 
support  the  celebrated  sub-treasury  bill,  to  the  adoption  of 
which  he  was  well  known  to  be  most  strenuously  opposed. 
The  concluding  words  of  his  letter  of  resignation  were  as 
follows : 

*T  was  called  to  the  service  of  my  state,  fifteen  years  ago, 
without  any  solicitation  on  my  part.  With  reluctance  I  ac- 
cepted the  high  station  I  now  occupy.  I  have  been  continued 
in  it,  perhaps,  too  long  for  the  interest  of  the  country.  I  have 
been  thrice  elected  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  your  predeces- 
sors. My  services  have  been  rendered  in  terms  of  high  party 
excitement — sometimes  threatening  to  burst  asunder  the  bonds 
of  the  Union — and  )Our  resolutions  contain  the  high  conipli-' 
mcnt  that  bitter  political  opponents  can   find  only  a  solitary 


Il8  BENCH    AND   BAR   OF  SOUTH   AND   SOUTHWEST. 

vote,  worthy  in  their  judgment,  of  unqualified  condemnation. 

"I  hope  it  will  be  in  your  power  to  select  a  successor  who 
can  bring  into  the  service  of  the  state  more  talents — I  feel  a 
proud  consciousness  that  more  purity  of  intention,  or  more 
unremitting  industry,  he  never  can. 

'^For  the  sake  of  place  I  will  never  cringe  to  pozver.  You 
have  instructed  me  to  do  those  things  which,  entertaining  the 
opinions  I  do,  I  fear  I  would  not  be  forgiven  for,  either  in  this 
world  or  the  next,  and,  practising  upon  the  creed  I  have  long 
professed,  I  hereby  tender  to  you  my  resignation  of  the  trust 
confided  to  me,  as  one  of  the  Senators  of  the  State  of  Tennes- 
see to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

"Allow  me  to  add  my  sincere  prayer  that  the  Governor  of 
the  Universe  may  so  overrule  our  dissensions  as  to  secure  the 
liberty  and  promote  the  prosperity  of  our  common  constitu- 
ents." 

Thus  closed  the  public  career  of  one  of  the  most  merito- 
rious personages  that  the  State  of  Tennessee  has  ever  held 
within  her  confines;  a  man  who,  alike  in  domestic  and  social 
life,  was  an  exemplar  of  moral  purity  and  disinterested  patri- 
otism; honest,  sincere,  scrupulously  truthful,  pure-minded 
and  resolute  in  the  performance  of  duty;  of  a  lofty  and  inde- 
pendent spirit;  an  inflexible  devotee  to  the  principles  which 
he  had  in  early  life  espoused  and  to  which  he  ever  adhered, 
regardless  of  the  fascinations  of  place,  the  insidious  persua- 
sives of  professing  friends,  or  the  menaces  of  party  proscrip- 
tion; unjust  to  no  man;  affable  and  courteous  towards  all 
with  whom  he  had  intercourse;  not  easy  to  take  offence,  but, 
if  wronged  or  insulted,  quick  to  resent,  and  persevering  in 
his  efforts  to  bring  the  aggressor  to  a  proper  sense  of  his  own 
injustice;  yet  placable  and  forgiving  upon  a  proper  show  of 
atonement,  and  ever  ready  to  rriake  a  charitable  allowance  for 
the  weaknesses,  petty  aberrations,  or  honest  mistakes  of  others. 
Few  men  have  ever  lived  who  possessed  a  mind  more  acute 
and  vigorous;  a  judgment  more  unerring,  both  as  to  men  and 
the  affairs  in  which  they  have  to  deal;  a  quicker  and  more 
profound  prescience  of  the  future,  or  a  more  unerring  divina- 
tion of  the  motives  which  ordinarily  influence  men  in  public 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST,  II9 

station.  His  style  of  composition  was  not  unlike  that  of  Chief 
Justice  Marshall — plain,  direct,  forcible;  free  from  everything 
like  tawdry  rhetorical  ornament,  and  fastening  his  own  con- 
victions upon  the  minds  of  other  men  with  a  logic  which 
nothing  could  resist,  and  with  a  mild  but  earnest  persuasive- 
ness which  rendered  it  delightful  to  agree  with  him,  and  pain- 
ful to  dissent  from  one  so  unassuming,  so  gifted,  and  so  wise. 
His  industry  when  engaged  in  the  performance  of  judicial 
functions  was  most  unremitting;  though  there  was  nothing  in 
him  of  that  blustering  and  ostentatious  activity  and  self- 
importance  sometimes  displajing  itself  so  disgustingly  upon 
the  bench;  his  demeanor  in  the  sanctuary  of  justice  was  always 
marked  with  serenity,  with  patience,  and  with  a  vigilance 
■which  knew  no  relaxation;  and  the  decisions  which  he  from 
time  to  time  rendered  in  cases  of  the  most  difficult  and  ex- 
citing character  were  uniformly  such  as  gave  the  most  com- 
plete satisfaction  both  to  the  bar  and  the  country.  Law,  as  a 
science,  he  had  fully  explored;  his  mind  was  a  storehouse  of 
well-digested  juridical  principles;  and  he  had  conceived  in  his 
early  life,  and  cherished  to  the  day  of  his  death,  a  high  and 
elevated  sense  of  the  dignity  of  the  legal  profession.  As  a 
constitutional  lawyer  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  Republic  has 
ever  produced  Judge  White's  superior,  and  some  of  his  most 
elaborate  speeches  in  the  National  Senate  upon  important 
questions  of  finance  are  perhaps  as  valuable  specimens  of 
politico-economical  discussion  as  can  anywhere  be  found.  It 
cannot  be  said  that  Judge  White  was  endowed  with  a  brilliant 
and  fervid  imagination;  he  had  no  claim  to  be  recognized  as  a 
man  of  sparkling  wit;  and  he  very  rarely  indulged  in  mere 
humorous  allusion;  but,  on  several  well-known  occasions, 
whilst  he  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
he  displayed  not  a  little  power  in  the  department  of  satire, 
and,  on  the  spur  of  the  occasion,  when  under  the  influence  of 
special  irritation,  spoke  in  a  tone  of  caustic  and  withering 
severity  which  was  not  the  less  effective  perhaps  by  reason  of 
its  being  so  little  in  unison  with  his  accustomed  manner  of 
speaking  in  this  dignified  and  illustrious  body.  Could  Judge 
White's  proud  and  independent'nature  have  permitted  him  to 


I20  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST, 

submit,  with  a  tameness  and  servility  now  so  common,  to  the 
exacting  and  heartless  rules  of  party  disciplme,  it  is  not  to  be 
doubted  that  it  was  in  his  power  to  have  reached  the  Presi- 
dential station;  and  no  unprejudiced  man  will  be  now  in- 
clirted  to  deny,  in  view  of  much  that  has  been  occurring  dur- 
ing the  last  forty  years,  that  his  advent  to  power  in  the  year 
1837  might  have  been  attended  with  many  beneficial  results, 
and  have  saved  the  men  of  this  generation  from  the  experience 
of  evils  the  magnitude  and  detrimental  influence  of  which 
could  scarcely  be  overestimated. 

As  a  forensic  advocate  Judge  White  was  distinguished  as 
much  as  any  lawyer  of  his  time,  by  his  modest  and  unas- 
suming manner,  his  freedom  from  all  affectation  and  parade, 
the  simplicity  and  aptness  of  his  illustrations,  and  his  mar- 
vellous powers  of  condensation.  Cicero  has  told  us,  in  his 
"Orator,"  that  the  "eloquent  speaker  is  a  man  who  speaks  in 
the  forum  and  in  civil  causes  in  such  a  manner  as  to  prove,  to 
delight,  and  to  persuaded  This  seems  to  me  as  precise  and 
accurate  a  description  of  Judge  White  as  could  well  be  drawn; 
and  his  honor.  Judge  Reese,  upon  the  occasion  of  his  decease 
in  1840,  thus  expressed  himself  from  the  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  where  he  was  then  worthily  presiding,  in  response  to 
certain  complimentary  resolutions  just  adopted  by  the  bar  of 
Tennessee : 

'We  receive  with  the  liveliest  sensibility  and  profound  re- 
gret the  melancholy  intelligence  that  one  so  long  and  so  emi- 
nently distinguished,  as  a  member  of  our  profession  and  as  a 
judge  of  this  court,  is  no  longer  to  be  numbered  among  the 
living.  The  individual  upon  whom  has  devolved  the  duty  of 
responding  to  the  request  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  bar,  has 
known  the  deceased  intimately  for  the  last  twenty  years.  The 
traits  of  his  character  were  strongly  marked.  His  intellect 
was  unusually  active,  acute,  clear  and  vigorous.  He  had 
great  firmness  of  purpose  and  energy  of  will,  and  if  his  tem- 
per was  ardent  and  his  emotions  sometimes  intense  he  had  a 
prudence,  discretion  and  fairness  which  directed  his  efforts  to 
right  ends  by  right  means.  His  professional  career  com- 
menced about  the  time  that  this  State  became  a  member  of 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  121 

the  Union,  and  he  rose  at  once  to  honorable  distinction. 
Although  his  preparation,  scholastic  and  professional,  as 
might  be  expected  from  the  character  of  the  country  and  the 
times,  was  rather  accurate  and  useful  than  extensive,  still, 
such  were  the  endowments  of  his  mind  and  the  strength  of 
his  character,  that  for  forty-five  years,  and  to  the  last,  he  kept 
up  with  the  improvements  of  society  and  the  developments 
of  our  institutions,  and  never  lost  that  position  in  the  very 
front  rank  of  his  profession  with  which  he  set  out.  As  a  law- 
yer, he  was  ever  at  his  post  and  always  prepared.  As  a 
speaker  at  the  bar,  he  was  animated,  argumentative,  and  emi- 
nently impressive;  force  and  perspicuity  were  his  striking  at- 
tributes. As  a  judge,  he  was  courteous,  dignified,  impartial 
and  able.  This  elevated  station  he  reached  at  an  early  age, 
and  he  largely  contributed  by  the  purity  of  his  personal 
character  and  the  energy,  wisdom  and  justice  of  his  official 
actions,  to  impress  upon  a  new  community  that  respect  for, 
and  submission  to,  an  enlightened  administration  of  the  law, 
which  has  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances  since  so 
honorably  distinguished  them." 

When  the  news  of  Judge  White's  decease  reached  Wash- 
ington, the  customary  motion  in  honor  of  the  illustrious  ex- 
Senator  was  introduced  in  the  body  of  which  he  had  been  so 
long  a  respected  member,  and  Mr.  Preston  of  South  Carolina 
expressed  himself  in  the  following  glowing  and  generous 
terms: 

"I  do  not  know,  Mr.  President,  whether  I  am  entitled  to 
the  honor  I  am  about  to  assume  in  seconding  the  resolutions 
which  have  just  been  offered  by  the  senator  from  Tennessee, 
in  honor  of  his  late  predecessor;  and  yet,  sir,  I  am  not  aware 
that  any  one  present  is  more  entitled  to  this  melancholy 
honor,  if  it  belongs  to  long  acquaintance,  to  sincere  admira- 
tion, and  to  intimate  intercourse.  If  these  circumstances  do 
not  entitle  me  to  speak,  I  am  sure  every  senator  will  feel,  in 
the  emotions  which  swell  his  own  bosom,  an  apology  for  de- 
siring to  relieve  my  own,  by  bearing  testimony  to  the  virtues 
and  talents,  the  long  services  and  great  usefulness  of  Judge 
White. 


122  BENCH   AND   BAR   OF  SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

"  My  infancy  and  youth  were  spent  in  a  region  contiguous 
to  the  sphere  of  his  earher  fame  and  usefulness.  As  long  as 
I  can  remember  anything,  I  remember  the  deep  confidence  he 
had  inspired  as  a  wise  and  upright  judge,  in  which  station  no 
man  ever  enjoyed  a  purer  reputation,  or  established  a  more 
implicit  reliance  in  his  abilities  and  honesty.  There  was  an 
antique  sternness  and  justness  in  his  character.  By  a  general 
consent  he  was  called  Cato.  Subsequently,  at  a  period  of 
our  public  affairs  very  analogous  to  the  present,  he  occupied 
a  position  which  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  financial  in- 
stitutions of  East  Tennessee.  He  sustained  them  by  his  in- 
dividual character.  From  this  more  limited  sphere  of  useful- 
ness and  reputation,  he  was  first  brought  to  this  more  con- 
spicuous stage  as  the  member  of  an  important  commission  on 
the  Spanish  treaty,  in  which  he  was  associated  with  Mr.  Taze- 
well and  Mr.  King.  His  learning,  his  ability,  his  firmness 
and  industry,  immediately  extended  the  sphere  of  his  reputa- 
tion to  the  boundaries  of  the  country.  Upon  the  completion 
of  that  duty,  he  came  into  the  Senate.  Of  his  career  here  I 
need  not  .speak.  His  grave  and  venerable  countenance  is 
even  now  before  us — that  air  of  patient  attention,  of  grave 
deliberation,  of  unrelaxed  firmness.  There  his  position  was 
of  the  highest — beloved,  respected,  honored  ;  always  in  his 
place — always  prepared  for  the  business  in  hand — always 
bringing  to  it  the  treasured  reflections  of  a  sedate  and  Vigor- 
ous understanding.  Over  one  department  of  our  delibera- 
tions he  exercised  a  very  peculiar  control.  In  the  manage- 
ment of  our  complex  and  difficult  relations  with  the  Indians^ 
we  all  deferred  to  him,  and  to  this  he  addressed  himself  with 
unsparing  labor,  and  with  a  wisdom,  a  patient  benevolence,, 
that  justified  and  vindicated  the  confidence  of  the  Senate." 

To  the  late  John  Bell — a  gentleman  who  is  known  to  have 
been  most  intimately  associated  with  Judge  White  for  many 
years — the  public  is  indebted  for  the  following  characteristic 
anecdote  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  deeply  interesting  speech 
delivered  by  Mr.  Bell  in  Washington  City,  in  hearing  of  a 
very  large  assemblage  of  citizens  met  to  render  appropriate 
honors  to  the  more  than  Roman  patriot  and  statesman  whose 
decease  had  then  recently  occurred. 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     12^ 

"  It  may  not  be  generally  known,"  said  Mr.  Bell,  "that  this 
venerable  patriot  was,  late  in  life,  destined  to  the  affliction  of 
beholding  the  objects  of  his  early  paternal  care,  the  pride  and 
hope  of  his  affections,  fall,  '  stricken  by  the  insatiate  archer,' 
one  by  one,  in  succession,  until  two  only  of  a  loved  and  cher- 
ished group  of  ten  remained  ;  and,  what  seemed  yet  a  harder 
and  more  relentless  fate,  all  these  sank  into  the  tomb  at  full 
maturity — Jiis  sons  in  the  vigor  of  manhood,  and  giving  high 
promise  of  all  their  father  was — the  more  tender  and  lovely 
members  of  his  family  in  the  full  bloom  of  youthful  beauty, — 
yet  so  stern  was  the  sense  of  public  duty,  which  always  gov- 
erned this  eminent  citizen,  that,  at  its  bidding,  I  have  known, 
him  to  allow  himself  but  a  single  hour  in  which  to  weep  the 
early  doom  of  still  another  '  daughter  dear.' 

"  By  a  singular  and  unfortunate  coincidence,  a  measure  of 
great  importance  in  the  Senate  of  which  he  had  charge,  and 
which  he  alone,  from  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  sub- 
ject, was  able  to  explain  and  enforce,  was  set  for  the  very  day 
on  which  he  received  the  melancholy  tidings  of  this  new  be- 
reavement. The  measure  was  urgent,  and  admitted  no  post- 
ponement. One  moment  I  saw  him  with  his  heart  wrung  by 
inexpressible  anguish — the  next,  he  appeared  to  the  Senate, 
composed  and  resolute,  and  a  moment  afterwards  he  entered 
upon  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  effective  speeches  ever  de- 
livered in  that  body." 

Who,  on  reading  this  touching  narrative,  can  fail  to  be  re- 
minded of  a  similar  instance  in  Roman  annals  in  conjunction 
with  that  renowned  conqueror  of  Macedonia  who  is  reported, 
when  visited  with  the  severest  domestic  calamities  of  a  like 
description,  to  have  calmly  led  up  his  triumph  along  the 
streets  of  the  Eternal  City  as  if  fortune  had  done  naught  to 
fill  his  bosom  with  paternal  anguish,  or  to  remind  him  of  the 
transitory  character  of  all  human  glory  ? 

Having  in  the  beginning  of  this  sketch  had  occasion  to  re- 
fer to  the  excited  and  tempestuous  state  of  society  in  East 
Tennessee,  for  several  years  anterior  to  the  admission  into  the 
Federal  Union  of  the  august  state  of  which  it  forms  a  part,  I 
have  judged  it  expedient,  before  closing  what  I  have  to  say  of 


124  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

Judge  White,  to  adduce  here  what  fell  from  his  own  lips 
touching  the  civic  troubles  of  which  he  had  been  himself  a 
witness  in  the  days  of  his  raw  and  inexperienced  manhood ; 
Mr.  Webster  having  alluded  in  a  somewhat  ludicrous  manner 
to  some  of  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  memorable 
attempt,  in  the  closing  years  of  the  last  century,  to  establish 
the  state  of  '•  Franklin','  Judge  White  said  in  response :  "  But, 
sir,  these  old  proceedings  more  clearly  developed  the  true 
character  of  my  state  than  almost  anything  of  the  present 
day. 

"  The  territory  or  tract  of  country  called  '  Franklin '  was 
composed  of  four  counties  of  North  Carolina,  and  separated 
from  the  body  of  the  state  by  the  great  ledge  of  mountains, 
called  at  different  places  by  different  names,  and  from  what  is 
now  West  Tennessee  by  the  Cumberland  mountains  and  a 
wilderness  of  two  hundred  miles. 

"  The  revolutionary  war  had  terminated  with  Great  Britain 
in  1783,  but  it  continued  with  the  powerful  tribes  of  Indians 
who  had  been  in  alliance  with  her.  The  depredations  of  these 
Indians  were  so  serious  that  aid  to  arrest  their  ravages  was 
desired  from  North  Carolina ;  that  state  was  not  in  a  situation 
to  furnish  protection,  and,  instead  thereof,  from  good  motives, 
no  doubt,  but  without  due  consideration,  passed  an  act  ceding 
us  to  the  United  States.  When  the  news  was  received,  the 
leading  men,  who  were  " Kings  Mountain "  men, — Sevier,  the 
companion  of  the  gallant  Campbell  and  Shelby,  at  their  head, 
took  fire ;  the  discontent  ended  in  a  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, and  the  formation  of  the  State  called,  to  perpetuate  our 
Whig  principles,  '  Franklin.' 

"  North  Carolina  discovered  her  error,  and,  before  Congress 
could  act  on  the  subject,  repealed  her  act  of  cession.  But  it 
was  too  late.  We  had  been  disposed  of  without  our  consent. 
Though  but  a  handful,  with  a  powerful  savage  enemy  infesting 
our  whole  frontier,  and  without  a  dollar  to  begin  with,  we  set 
up  for  ourselves.  We  would  not  brook  the  indignity;  we  had 
begun  the  fight  for  liberty,  and  liberty  or  death  we  would 
have.  We  continued  the  controversy  till  1789,  when  an  ac- 
commodation with  our  present  state  took  place,  and  with  our 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      I25. 

own  consent,  and  with  terms  thought  just,  we,  with  other  por- 
tions of  territory,  were  ceded,  in  1789,  to  the  United  States." 

A  curious  anecdote  related  by  Judge  White  in  the  same 
speech,  illustrates  very  happily  the  primeval  condition  of  the 
people  of  the  region  referred  to  ninety  years  ago.  He  saysr 
■*  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  governor,  chief  justice,  and 
.several  other  officers,  were  to  be  paid  in  deerskins;  other  in- 
ferior officers  were  to  be  paid  in  raccoon  skins.     *      *      * 

"  We  thought  that  these  taxes  might  safely  remain  in  the 
hands  of  the  collectors,  as  sub-treasuries,  until  wanted  for  dis- 
bursement. The  taxes  were  therefore  fairly  collected  in  the 
skins  and  peltry  pointed  out  by  law.  But  the  collectors,  as 
report  says,  knew  that  though  raccoon  skins  were  plenty, 
opossum  skins  were  more  so,  and  that  they  could  be  procured 
for  little  or  nothing.  They,  therefore,  procured  the  requisite 
quantity  of  opossum  skins,  paid  them  into  the  general  or 
principal  treasury,  and  sold  the  raccoon  skins  to  the  hatters." 

It  was  at  this  early  period  that  an  acquaintance  was  formed 
and  a  cordial  friendship  established  between  Judge  White  and 
General  Andrew  Jackson ;  which  friendship,  after  existing- 
without  diminution  or  distrust  on  either  side,  for  a  full  half 
century,  was  lamentably  severed  by  political  differences  about 
the  year  1836.  Since  the  notable  separation  of  Mr.  Burke 
and  Mr.  Fox  upon  the  questions  growing  out  of  the  French 
Revolution,  a  more  remarkable  breach  of  amicable  relations 
has  not  occurred  between  two  men  alike  distinguished  for  in- 
tellectual power,  integrity  of  soul,  and  unquestionable  patriot- 
ism. It  is  not  necessary  to  expatiate  here  upon  the  career  of 
General  Jackson  as  a  member  of  the  bar  of  Tennessee  and 
one  of  her  earliest  judicial  functionaries.  None  of  the  opin- 
ions delivered  by  him  as  a  judge  have  been  preserved  for  the 
inspection  of  the  present  generation.  In  the  course  of  my 
rambles  through  Tennessee  I  have  encountered  a  few  of  those 
who  knew  him  as  an  active  and  successful  practitioner  of  the 
law  both  in  East  and  in  Middle  Tennessee,  all  of  whom  spoke 
of  him  in  most  favorable  terms.  No  one  can  doubt  that  had 
this  remarkable  man  devoted  himself  with  such  unremitting 
diligence  to  the  study  of  his  chosen  profession,  as  is  knowa 


126  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

to  be  indispensable  to  the  acquisition  of  deep  and  varied  legal 
learning,  he  might  easily  have  attained  a  very  high  rank  both 
as  an  advocate  and  judge.     His  mind  was  one  of  almost  un- 
surpassed activity  and  vigor;  he  expressed  himself  in  conver- 
sation with  a  fluency  and  impressive  brilliancy,  to  which  there 
was  nothing  wanting  except,  perhaps,  a  more  polished  and 
scholastic  phraseology,  a  more  extensive  knowledge  of  books, 
and  a  slight  diminution  of  that  fiery  and  dashing  impulsive- 
ness which  occasionally  involved  him,  in  early  life,  in  an  over- 
hasty  avowal  of  impressions  which  had  not  yet  solidified  into 
vpinious,  and  into  the  precipitate  denunciation  of  those  whom 
he  chanced  to  recognize  as  occupying  a  position  of  semi-an- 
tagonism to  himself  and  his  chosen  friends.     Though  he  is 
known  to  have  been  emphatically  of  a  combative  disposition 
and  to  have  had  numerous  personal  collisions,  at  different 
periods  of  his  career,  with  persons  endowed  with  a  tempera- 
ment little  less  inflammable  than  his  own, — yet  it  is  a  well  as- 
certained fact  that  at  the  bar  he  was  uniformly  courteous  and 
obliging,  and  on  the  bench,  calm,  patient,  painstaking,   and 
decorous.     No  man,  perhaps,  ever  cherished  a  more  profound 
sense  of  the  intrinsic  dignity  of  the  tribunals  established  for 
the  administration  of  justice,  and  of  the  reverence  due  to 
recognized   civil    authority  than   the  eminent  personage  to 
whom  I  am  now  referring.     In  support  of  this  affirmation  it 
is  almost  needless  to  allude  to  that   well-known  transaction 
connected  with  New  Orleans  just  fifty  years  ago;  when  he 
voluntarily  paid  out  of  his  own  pocket,  the  amount  of  a  thous- 
and dollars,  in  obedience  to  a  manifestly  unjust  and  tyranni- 
cal judicial  Jiat,  though  then  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  ir- 
resistible  force;  which  sum,  as  is  well  known  to  all,  some 
twenty  years  after  it  had  been  thus  levied,  the  Congress  of 
the  Union,  upon  the  fullest  discussion  of  all  the  facts  of  the 
case,  caused  to  be  returned  to  him  after  his  retirement  to 
private  life,  and  only  a  short  period  antecedent  to  his  decease. 
In  this  connection,  I  should  not  omit  to  mention  another  in- 
cident, the  occurrence  of  which  is  as  certain  as  any  other  his- 
toric event  which  can  be  mentioned,  but  which,  so  far  as  I  am 
informed,  has  no  parallel  injudicial  annals,     I  allude  now  to 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      12/ 

the  fact  of  his  having  on  one  occasion,  when  holding  court 
in  a  certain  locality  of  East  Tennessee — on  learning  that  a 
lawless  individual,  by  the  name  of  Beane — then  charged  with 
the  commission  of  a  serious  criminal  offence — was  boldly 
setting  the  authority  of  the  law  at  defiance  and  refusing  to 
be  apprehended — ordered  the  sheriff  to  summon  him  (the 
judge  of  the  court)  to  act  in  aid  of  the  law  ;  which  having 
been  done  accordingly,  he  walked,  coolly  and  fearlessly  up  to 
Beane,  who  was  armed  to  the  teeth,  took  him  in  charge,  and 
delivered  him  over  to  his  own  court  for  trial.  It  may  be  al- 
lowed to  me  to  notice  here  another  occurence  of  a  somewhat 
similar  character,  which  I  have  never  yet  seen  in  print,  but 
for  which  I  can  personally  vouch.  After  General  Jackson  had 
been  defeated  as  a  Presidential  candidate  in  1824-5,  and  had 
resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  he  paid  a  visit  to  a  farm  then 
owned  by  him  near  the  town  of  Tuscumbia,  in  North  Ala- 
bama. Passing  through  Tuscumbia,  he  met  the  overseer  to 
whose  care  that  farm  had  been  entrusted.  A  dialogue  oc- 
curred between  them,  in  which  the  overseer  presuming  upon 
his  superior  youth  and  vigor,  applied  to  his  venerable  em- 
ployer the  most  disrespectful  and  insulting  language ;  upon 
the  utterance  of  which  General  Jackson  proceeded  to  subject 
the  offender  to  a  genteel  and  exemplary  canhig,  in  presence 
of  many  persons  and  to  the  gratification  of  all  of  them.  Tus- 
cumbia was  then  a  small  village,  but  there  was  a  resident  in 
it,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  for  many  years  well  known  to  me, 
by  the  name  of  Parham.  He  made  out  a  warrant  against 
General  Jackson,  and  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  a  constable, 
directing  him  to  summon  without  delay  this  "  hero  of  two 
wars,"  to  his  own  majestic  presence ;  who  at  once  appeared, 
apologized  most  respectfully  for  the  violation  of  law  which  he 
had  committed,  and  announced  his  willingness  to  pay  any  fine 
which  might  be  assessed  against  him.  He  was  ordered  to 
pay  ten  dollars,  which  he  did,  and  was  discharged  from 
further  attendance  upon  the  court. 

It  is  now  an  ascertained  fact  that  General  Jackson  was  born 
in  North  Carolina,  and  not  in  South  Carolina,  as  for  many 
years  was  supposed  to  be  the  case.     He  read  few  and  ob- 


128  BENCH   AND    BAR   OF  SOUTH   AND   SOUTHWEST. 

tained  license  to  practice,  before  emigrating  from  his  native 
State.  For  about  six  years  he  exercised  the  functions  of  a 
judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Tennessee,  from  the  autumn 
of  1798  to  the  month  of  June,  1804.  Without  going  into  his 
merits  and  demerits  (if  demerits  there  were)  as  a  great  and 
successful  party  leader,  I  may  be  permitted  to  observe  that  to 
his  profound  sagacity,  his  indomitable  firmness,  and  his  truly 
national  spirit,  the  country  is  mainly  indebted  for  the  pre- 
vention of  that  fratricidal  war  which  at  one  time,  during  his 
administration  as  President,  was  so  seriously  menaced.  Had 
he  been  so  unfortunate  (as  one  of  his  successors  is  known  to 
have  been)  in  adopting  the  absurd  and  puerile  notion  that  the 
Federal  Government  has  been  given  no  adequate  power  of 
defending  itself  against  insurrectionary  violence,  or  to  coerce 
into  obedience  to  its  authority  all  who  shall  undertake  either 
to  obstruct  or  to  resist  it  in  arms  the  abundant  blessings 
which  we  now  enjoy  as  a  united  people,  and  which  are  held 
in  reserve  for  our  posterity,  of  all  future  generations,  would 
in  all  probability  have  long  ago  passed  away,  and  given  place 
to  all  the  evils  which  wait  upon  civil  violence,  anarchy,  and 
despotic  rule. 

A  long  and  uninterrupted  friendship  is  reported  to  have 
existed  between  General  Jackson  and  the  late  John  Overton, 
his  successor  upon  the  bench  of  the  Superior  Court  in  the 
year  1804.  These  two  gentlemen  were  co-practitioners  of 
law  in  the  city  of  Nashville  for  some  years,  and  participated 
in  many  pleasant  and  romantic  scenes  connected  with  the 
early  history  of  Middle  Tennessee.  The  high  character 
borne  by  Judge  Overton  for  truth  and  honor  enabled  him  to 
be  exceedingly  useful,  during  that  trying  and  eventful  period 
in  the  life  of  General  Jackson  which  intervened  between  the 
years  1824  and  1828,  in  the  vindication  of  the  character  of  the 
then  Democratic  candidate  for  the  Presidency  against  many 
plausible  but  unfounded  rumors  to  which  partisan  malevo- 
lence had  given  a  wide  and  injurious  currency,  but  which  the 
manly  and  comprehensive  explanations  given  by  Judge  Over- 
ton, over  his  own  signature,  put  at  rest  forever.  Accusations 
involving  p'ersonal  character,  purporting  to  be  founded  upon 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  1 29 

facts  which  had  occurred  a  quarter  of  a  century  before,  in 
a  new  and  sparsely  settled  vicinage,  would  never  perhaps 
have  been  effectually  counteracted  save  by  just  such  testi- 
mony as  Judge  Overton  was  happily  able  to  supply.  Judge 
Overton  lived  to  see  his  beloved  and  honored  friend  elevated 
to  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic,  and  is  known  to  have 
warmly  sympathized  with  him  in  the  excited  and  tempestu-. 
ous  scenes  of  political  turmoil  and  contention  through  which 
it  was  his  fortune  to  pass.  For  many  years  he  enjoyed  a 
large  practice  as  an  attorney,  and  during  the  protracted  period 
of  his  service  upon  the  bench,  delivered  many  able  and  lumin- 
ous opinions  which  are  yet  held  in  high  respect  in  the  courts 
of  Tennessee  and  the  adjoining  states — opinions  bearing  con- 
clusive evidence  of  deep  legal  learning,  of  unsurpassed  labor 
and  research,  and  of  a  vigorous  and  elastic  intellect.  Judge 
Overton's  knowledge  of  the  common  law  was  such  as  few  of 
his  contemporaries  had  succeeded  in  acquiring,  and  his  mind 
seemed  to  be  singularly  adapted  to  the  disentangling  of  com- 
plex questions  of  mixed  law  and  fact,  and  to  the  attainment 
of  sure  and  satisfactory  conclusions  by  processes  which 
owed  their  effectiveness  far  more  to  the  exercise  of  a  solid 
and  penetrating  common  sense  than  to  the  often  misapplied 
rules  of  a  subtle  and  artificial  logic.  His  industry  and 
impartiality  in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties  entitle 
him  to  special  respect  and  veneration,  and  his  exemplary 
conduct  in  private  life,  surrounded  him  whilst  living  with  nu- 
merous sympathizing  friends,  a  few  of  whom  are  yet  surviving,, 
and  who  are  heard  occasionally  to  allude  to  him  in  terms  of 
affectionate  respect  and  undiminished  admiration  and  grati- 
tude. It  may  be  worthy  of  passing  mention  that  Judge  Over- 
ton was  more  than  usually  successful  in  the  acquisition  of 
wealth,  now  so  much  overvalued  by  large  numbers  of  our 
countrj^men.  The  estate  which  he  accumulated  and  left  to 
his  descendants,  if  now  held  by  a  single  possessor,  would 
make  him  one  of  the  largest  capitalists  in  the  Republic. 

John  Haywood,  whose  name  occurs  so  often  in  the  col- 
umns of  reported  decisions,  both  of  North  Carolina  and  Ten- 
nessee, removed  from  the  former  to  the  latter  of  these  states 


130  BENCH   AND   BAR   OF  SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

early  in  the  present  century,  bringing  with  him  a  command- 
ing reputation  for  legal  learning  and  ability,  which  speedily 
opened    the   way   to    an    extensive    and    lucrative  practice 
at  the  bar,  and  his  ultimate  elevation  to  the  bench  as  one 
of  the  judges  of  the  highest  appellate  court  of  his  adopted 
state.     As  an  advocate  Judge  Haywood  was  earnest,  impres- 
sive, and  at  times  surpassingly  eloquent.     His  native  intel- 
lectual powers  were  unquestionably  of  a  very  high  character, 
and  the  studious  habits  of  many  consecutive  years  had  sup- 
plied him  with  vast  stores  of  learning  of  almost   every  de- 
scription that  can  be  mentioned ;  which  gave  him  an  advan- 
tage difficult  to  be  estimated  over  all  ordinary   competitors. 
His    imagination  was    lively  and    vigorous,   though    always 
held  under  rigorous  restraint;    his  capacity  for   reasoning, 
whether  upon  law  or  facts,  was  such  as  to  cause  his  admirers 
often  to  compare  him  to  Chief  Justice  Marshall;   he  never 
spoke  without  the  fullest  preparation,  and,  though  sometimes 
supposed  to  be  a  little  diffuse  in  his  style,   was  never  inco- 
herent, never  feeble  and  trivial,  never  tedious  or  inconsequen- 
tial.    His  was  the  diffusiveness  of  a  rich  lump  of  pure  gold — 
heated  to  liquidation  by  the  intense  heat  of  the  furnace,  and 
ready  to  spread  itself  abroad  upon  all  objects  with  which  it 
might  come  in  contact.     Never  could  court  or  jury  listen  to 
him  save  with  the  most  interested  and  unremitted  attention. 
He  was  of  commanding  stature,  of  a  most  manly  and  pleas- 
ing   expression  of   countenance,    and  possessed  a   voice  at 
once  clear,  penetrating  and  conciliatory.     After  passing  the 
middle  stage  of  life  he  became  quite  corpulent;  but  he  re- 
tained both  his  physical  and  intellectual  energies  in  full  per- 
fection up  to  the  last  moment  of  his  brilliant  and  useful  career. 
He  was  an  eager  seeker  of  knowledge  of  every  useful  kind, 
even  after  old  age  had  crept  upon  him;  and  at  a  period  of  life 
when  most  men  who  have  run  a  stirring  and  laborious  career 
are  inclined  to  sigh  for  repose,  he  was  still  drinking  at  the 
fountains  of  knowledge  with  unabated  thirst,  and  writing  vol- 
umes in  which  may  be  found  bold  and  original  views  upon 
important  questions  of  general  science,  ingenious  geological 
and  mineralogical  suggestions,  valuable  compilations  of  facts 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      I3I 

connected  with  the  early  history  of  Tennessee,  and  exceed- 
ingly striking  and  impressive  remarks  upon  the  Indian  tribes 
then  spread  over  the  greater  portion  of  the  st.it'".  their  origin, 
their  wanderings,  their  usages,  and  their  destiny. 

I  shall  make  no  apology  for  introducing  here  a  short  ex- 
tract from  one  of  Judge  Haywood's  most  admired  judicial 
opinions,  having  reference  to  a  highly  interesting  question  of 
constitutional  law,  in  which  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  his 
mind  are  very  strikingly  presented  to  view.  The  Supreme 
Court,  of  which  he  was  always  a  most  conspicuous  and  influ- 
ential member,  had  decided  that  it  was  in  the  power  of  Con- 
gress to  vest  the  jurisdictional  authority  for  the  trial  of  certain 
cases  involving  the  violation  of  the  revenue  laws,  in  the  courts 
of  the  separate  states,  and  had  ruled  also,  that  it  would  not 
be  competent  in  such  cases,  for  the  defendant  to  allege  in  his 
own  behalf,  a  zvant  of  jurisdiction.  A  motion  was  thereupon 
made  for  the  suspension  of  the  judgment  of  the  court,  until 
a  succeeding  term  thereof,  in  order  that  further  argument 
might  then  be  had,  and  the  advantage  might  be  enjoyed  of 
citing  several  decisions  of  the  question  in  dispute  said  to 
have  been  rendered  in  the  State  of  New  York  and  in  several 
other  states,  no  certified  copy  of  which  had  yet  reached  Ten- 
nessee.    Upon  this  motion,  Judge  Haywood  said : 

"  It  is  as  much  the  duty  of  a  judge  to  cause  his  judgment 
to  be  carried  into  effect  when  he  has  no  reasonable  doubt 
pressing  on  his  mind,  as  it  is  to  suspend  it  when  he  has,  and 
I  cannot  say  that  my  mind  is  affected  with  any  reasonable 
•doubt.  If  we  ought  to  respect  the  opinions  given  by  the 
judicatures  of  other  states,  as  we  undoubtedly  ought,  we 
ought  also,  and  perhaps  equally,  to  respect  the  opinions  of 
those  legislators  who,  from  the  time  of  the  first  Congress  to 
the  first  decisions  we  are  invited  to  reflect  on,  have  viewed 
the  judicial  power  of  the  Union,  so  far  as  regards  citizens  of 
different  states,  or  the  United  States  and  a  citizen,  as  concur- 
rent with  the  judicial  power  of  the  states,  except  in  those  in- 
stances where  Congress  might  render  it  exclusive.  How  many 
cases  are  left  by  the  judicial  law  of  1789  to  be  decided  by  the 
state  judiciaries  ?     The  causes  which  produced  the  judicial 


132     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

power  of  the  Union  are  such  as  did  not  require  exclusion  in 
all  cases."  *  *  *  "As  to  the  notion  that  our  courts  can- 
not execute  the  laws  of  another  sovereignty,  surely  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  made  by  Congress  upon  subjects  sub- 
mitted to  their  government  by  the  constitution,  are  as  much 
our  laws  as  those  made  by  our  own  Legislature.  Do  we  not 
make  them  ourselves?  Do  we  not  appoint  the  legislators 
and  President?  Are  they  not  our  representatives  intrusted 
with  the  regulation  and  care  of  our  interests,  for  the  purpose 
of  procuring  the  public  welfare  and  prosperity?  Are  we  not 
sworn  to  support  them  ?  Is  it  not  our  duty  to  obey  and  carry 
them  into  effect?  Are  we  not  bound  in  conscience,  and  as 
good  citizens,  to  aid  in  the  support  of  them?  Whenever  the 
time  comes  when  the  laws  of  the  Union  shall  be  disobeyed 
and  looked  upon  as  the  laws  of  a  foreign  sovereignty,  and 
when  all  our  courts  and  judicial  officers  withdraw  from  them 
sustentation,  then  that  anarchy,  with  its  threatening  aspect, 
will  come  again,  which  shortly  preceded  the  formation  of  the 
present  constitution.  United  by  no  common  head,  we  shall 
pursue  as  many  different  courses  as  there  are  states,  and  be 
divided  and  separated  into  disunited  portions,  never  to  be 
again  drawn  together  by  sound  principles,  but  only  by  the 
despotism  of  the  sword.  A  judge  has  no  right  to  be  a  poli- 
tician ;  but  when  such  are  the  consequences  of  a  disregard  of 
the  laws  of  the  Union,  it  is  not  improper  to  contemplate  them, 
that  thereby  he  may  feel  an  invigorated  desire  to  execute 
them." 

He  thus  concludes:  , 

"  No  man  values  more  highly  than  I  do  the  New  York  de- 
cisions. 

"Why  say  that  the  grant  of  this  judicial  power  is  absolute 
and  exclusive,  when  the  cause  and  reason  of  it  is  not  so,  and 
when  the  words  of  the  constitution  do  not  require  it  so  to  be 
considered?  Suppose  no  judicial  power  had  been  given  to 
the  Union;  or  a  judicial  power  not  extending  to  the  penalties 
created  by  the  laws  of  the  United  States;  what  then?  Would 
not  the  state  courts  have  carried  the  law  into  execution?  And 
is  this  not  precisely  the  state  of  things,  when  Congress,  having 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  1 33 

a  power  to  order  or  not  to  order  the  courts  of  the  Union  to 
take  cognizance,  have  omitted  to  do  so,  and  have  intentionally- 
left  this  matter  as  it  would  stand  without  the  interference  of 
the  federal  constitution?  Are  not  all  the  powers  reserved  to 
the  states  which  are  not  expressly  taken  from  them  by  the 
constitution?  And  is  the  power  in  question  taken  from  them 
till  Congress  thinks  proper  to  appropriate  it  exclusively  to  the 
courts  of  the  Union?  If  I  give  you  a  power  of  attorney  to  sell 
my  land,  is  it  not  mine  till  you  have  executed  the  power  of 
selling?  If  I  authorize  you  by  a  declaration  of  uses  to  be 
made  by  yourself  to  appropriate  it  exclusively  to  yourself,  is 
it  not  mine  till  the  declaration  is  made?  Is  not  such  portion 
of  it  as  is  not  included  in  the  declaration  mine  still?  I  will 
-not  speak  of  the  consolidation  which  is  talked  of  The  dread 
thereof  is  an  illusion  which  exists  in  the  imagination  only. 
An  appeal  in  any  shape  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Union, 
in  the  few  cases  we  are  contemplating,  in  which  the  judicial 
power  may  not  be  exclusive,  and  is  not  so,  will  never  lead,  as 
an  appeal  in  all  cases  and  over  all  causes  might. -to  an  extinc- 
tion of  state  sovereignties,  and  the  consolidation  of  all  the 
state  powers  into  one  great  mass.  I  do  greatly  respect  the 
General  Court  of  Virginia;  I  see  'n  that  stnfe  'he  most  illus- 
trious characters,  the  ornaments  of  mankind,  much  to  imitate, 
much  to  praise;  but  so  far  as  they  contradict  the  opinion  now 
given,  I  must  say,  Cato  amicus,  et.  Plato  amicus ;  sed  major 
amicus  Veritas T 

This  opinion  was  delivered  in  the  year  1816,  nearly  a  half 
century  ago;  since  which,  to  prevent  this  dreaded  consolidation, 
a  bloody  civil  war  has  been  waged,  and  some  of  the  evils  so 
glowingly  depicted  by  Judge  Haywood  have  been  painfully 
realized.  Consolidation  though  is  still  apparently  as  remote 
as  it  was  a  half  century  ago.  The  reserved  rights  of  the  states 
and  people  are  all  yet  as  fully  enjoyed  as  they  were  when  the 
Federal  Government  was  established;  and  constitutional  free- 
dom, in  all  its  amplitude  and  blessedness,  is  still  the  distin- 
guishing glory  of  those  whose  good  fortune  it  is  to  inhabit 
the  natal  land  of  Washington  and  his  immortal  compeers. 

Whilst  Judge  Haywood  was  yet  a  little  be\-ond  the  prime 


134  BENCH    AND   BAR   OF  SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

of  lusty  manhood,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  forensic  and 
juridical  renown,  rarely,  if  ever,  equalled  in  any  part  of  the 
great  Missihsippi  valley,  a  man  who  was  his  junior  by  many 
years,  was  fast  rising  to  eminence  as  an  advocate  in  a  neighbor- 
incr  town,  between  whom  and  himself  relations  of  a  somewhat 
peculiar  character  were  soon  to  spring  into  existence.  I  al- 
lude to  the  celebrated  William  L.  Brown,  whose  career  as  a 
barrister  was  commenced,  as  I  have  heard,  in  what  is  now 
known  as  the  City  of  Clarksville,  in  which  place  he  continued 
to  practice  with  much  success  until  he  concluded  to  secure  to 
himself  a  somewhat  wider  sphere  of  action  by  locating  in  the 
City  of  Nashville.  The  personage  now  under  review  is  re- 
puted to  have  beei.  a  native  of  S.  Carolina.  Of  his  early  ed- 
ucation I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  any  precise  information. 
Nature  had  been  exceedingly  bounteous  to  him  in  regard  to 
his  Intellectual  gifts;  and  he  evinced  his  grateful  sense  of  her 
munificence  by  doing  all  in  his  power  to  increase  the  value  of 
these  gifts  and  to  use  them  as  the  means  of  acquiring  fame 
and  fortune.  •  He  was  a  most  persevering  and  untiring  student 
of  books.  His  knowledge  of  law  was  universally  admitted 
to  be  such  as  few  of  his  competitors  had  succeeded  in  ac- 
quiring. His  scholastic  attainments  were  respectable;  his 
general  reading  not  contemptible,  and  he  possessed  an  exten- 
sive and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  practical  concerns  of 
life,  and  of  the  ordinary  motives  of  human  action.  A  man 
of  a  more  fervid  and  insatiable  ambition  hac  never  lived, 
though  the  purity  and  elevation  of  his  nature  effectually  with- 
held him  from  all  those  low  and  debasing  arts  by  which  a 
meretricious  fame  is  so  often  acquired.  A  legitimate  and 
honorable  celebrity  he  sought  for  with  all  the  earnestness  of 
a  zealous  and  hopeful  temperament;  he  toiled  for  it  with  ex- 
haustless  assiduity ;  he  meditated  upon  the  means  by  which 
it  was  to  be  realized  through  many  an  anxious  day  and  many 
a  restless  night.  He  seemed  to  have  been  born  with  an  in- 
domitable confidence  in  his  own  capacity  for  self-advance- 
ment, and  his  ultimate  realization  of  a  splendid  destiny  com- 
mensurate with  his  aspirations  and  indispensable  to  his  earthly 
happiness.     His  moral  courage  almost  amounted  to  audacity; 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      1 35 

his  persevering  energy  was  without  bounds ;  and  there  was 
no  labor,  however  irksome  or  distasteful,  from  which  he 
thought  even  for  an  instant  of  recoiling,  provided  it  was  need- 
ful to  be  encountered  in  order  to  reacii  the  one  grand  object 
of  his  life.  Such  was  his  tenacity  of  purpose  that  no  difficul- 
ties could  seriously  discourage  him,  no  disappointments  de- 
press him,  and  not  even  the  most  splendid  successes  in  the 
forum  could  induce  him  to  relax  his  exertions  or  withdraw 
his  attention  for  an  instant  from  that  bright  star  of  renown 
which  was  constantly  sparkling  before  his  vision.  His  energy 
verged  upon  combativeness ;  and  he  was  somtitimes  not  over- 
patient  in  those  contestations  to  which  the  accidents  of  pro- 
fessional life  necessarily  exposed  him.  He  is  more  than  sus- 
pected of  having  taken  little  pleasure  in  the  increasing  fame 
of  those  whom  he  was  compelled  Jo  meet  as  rivals  for  pre- 
eminence. Judge  Brown  had  but  little  claim  to  be  recognized 
as  an  orator  of  the  highest  grade ;  but  he  always  spoke  with 
earnestness,  with  more  than  ordinary  facility  of  expression, 
and  with  a  happy  condensation  of  argumentative  force  which 
rendered  it  a  most  difficult  task  to  answer  with  effect  his  more 
studied  and  elaborate  speeches  at  the  bar.  Mere  flowers  of 
rhetoric  he  utterly  despised,  and  he  could  scarcely  conceal 
the  contempt  which  he  felt  for  those  who  paraded  them  in 
court  when  questions  of  great  practical  importance  were 
under  discussion.  Seldom,  indeed,  did  he  seek  either  for  or- 
nament or  illustration  outside  of  the  large  and  well-Selected 
library  of  law  books  to  which  he  alone  looked  for  inspiration 
and  for  victory.  Seldom  was  it  that  he  was  not  reading  the 
volumes  which  composed  that  library,  except  when  engaged 
in  forensic  argument,  or  in  drafting  some  important  profes- 
sional paper.  He  gave  but  little  time  to  mere  social  pursuits, 
and  never  visited  scenes  of  festive  mirth,  or  of  mere  holiday 
display.  When  he  relaxed,  as  he  did  occasionally,  among  a 
few  chosen  friends,  he  was  able  to  make  himself  not  a  little 
agreeable.  Some  of  his  arguments  at  the  bar  are  yet  remem- 
bered by  many  as  master-pieces  of  their  kind ;  and  it  is  prob- 
able that  he  never  spoke  in  court  without  being  listened  to 
with  something  more  than  respect  by  all  to  whom  he  ad- 


136  BENCH   AND   BAR  OF  SOUTH    AND  SOUTHWEST. 

dressed  himself.  During  the  short  period  that  he  occupied  a 
seat  upon  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  his 
reputation  was  constantly  on  the  increase,  and  had  he  con- 
tinued HI  that  position  he  would  probably  have  gone  nigh  to 
equalling  in  the  splendor  of  his  fame,  many  of  those  judicial 
magnates  of  our  own  and  of  other  countries  who  have 
reached  the  loftiest  heights  of  juridical  eminence.  But  he 
continued  on  the  bench  only  about  two  years;  either  not  al- 
together relishing  the  duties  which  he  had  there  to  perform, 
and  preferring  thereto  the  animated  and  somewhat  more  im- 
posing discussions  of  the  forum,  or,  which  seems  to  be  a  well 
ascertained  fact,  he  was  not  content  to  occupy  a  place  where 
the  overshadowing  influence  of  Judge  Haywood's  long  es- 
tablished fame  necessarily  held  him  in  a  position  of  only 
secondary  dignity.  It  has  been  even  said  by  persons  quite 
likely  to  be  correctly  informed  in  relation  to  this  matter,  that 
Judge  Haywood's  somewhat  dogmatic  and  ex  cathedra  man- 
ner of  enunciating  his  views,  and  the  claim  to  deference  on 
the  part  of  his  official  colleagues  which  he  sometimes  very 
distinctly  put  forth,  had  proved  not  a  little  offensive  to  Judge 
Brown's  professional  pride,  and  that  on  this  account  he  gladly 
returned  to  his  old  arena  of  the  forum  where  he  felt  quite 
sure  of  being  recognized,  as  of  yore,  facile  princeps.  His  re- 
tirement from  the  bench  was  a  general  subject  of  regret 
among  his  fellow  citizens,  all  classes  of  whom  estimated  most 
highly,  his  abilities,  his  industry,  and  his  unblemished  purity 
of  character.  Judge  Brown  did  not  live  a  great  while  after 
his  return  to  the  bar,  but  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  the 
improved  condition  of  his  powers  as  an  advocate,  and  the  ex- 
tension of  his  fame  as  a  safe  and  able  legal  adviser  only  ceased 
with  the  termination  of  his  mortal  career.  Tradition  asserts 
that  on  the  retirement  of  General  Jackson  from  the  United 
States  Senate  in  1826,  Judge  Brown,  always  one  of  his  warm- 
est admirers,  was  eagerly  desirous  of  becoming  his  successor, 
and  that  the  disappointment  of  his  hopes  in  this  particular 
tended  seriously  to  becloud  the  evening  of  his  days. 

The  late  Judge  Crabb  was  some  years  younger  than  the 
remarkable  personage  whose  character  and  career  have  just 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH   AND   SOUTHWEST.  1 37 

been  passed  in  review.  For  a  considerable  period  they  were 
•co-members  of  the  Nashville  bar,  and  appeared  often  in  op- 
position to  each  other  in  cases  of  the  greatest  dignity  and 
magnitude.  A  keen  spirit  of  professional  rivalry  very  soon 
sprang  up  between  them,  which,  on  one  or  two  noted  occa- 
sions, seemed  likely  to  result  in  feelings  of  decided  alienation 
if  not  of  settled  enmity;  yet  were  both  these  gentlemen  (so 
thoroughly  contrasted  to  each  other  as  they  were  in  several 
material  respects)  universally  recognized  by  the  community 
in  which  they  lived  as  persons  of  abundant  kindness  and  gen- 
erosity of  temper,  of  manly  and  honorable  sentiments,  and  of  \ 
an  inflexible  regard  for  the  rules  of  a  refined  and  high-bred 
•courtesy.  Judge  Brown  and  Judge  Crabb  were  never  very 
intimate  friends,  and  indeed  it  was  almost  next  to  impossible 
— situated  as  they  were — that  they  should  become  so.  The 
former — as  has  already  been  hinted — was  of  a  particularly  in- 
flammable temperament;  not  a  little  testy  and  impatient  of 
opposition;  occasionally  somewhat  dictatorial  in  his  bearing; 
morbidly  sensitive  to  anything  like  irony  or  suggested  re- 
proach, and  prone  to  distrust  the  friendship  and  esteem  of 
those  who  seriously  called  his  cherished  opinions  in  question, 
or  who  even  failed  to  defer  on  occasions  of  special  public  im- 
portance to  his  own  generally  admitted  intellectual  superi- 
ority. Judge  Crabb,  on  the  other  hand,  was  always  calm  and 
self-possessed;  not  at  all  pervious  to  ordinary  assailment; 
seldom,  if  ever,  giving  way  to  feelings  of  anger  or  irritation; 
bland  and  civil  in  his  ordinary  demeanor,  though  occasionally 
a  little  cold  and  formal;  gravely  respectful,  as  a  general 
thing,  to  those  with  whom  he  was  thrown  into  professional 
antagonism,  though  sometimes  apparently  taking  pleasure  in 
stirring  up  the  feelings  of  an  over-excitable  adversary  by  cool 
sarcastic  allusions  and  a  kind  of  half-concealed  raillery  which 
seemed  n^ore  or  less  distinctly  to  intimate  that  he  was  very 
far  from  feeling  anything  like  a  profound  respect  for  the  ar- 
guments to  which  he  was  responding,  or  the  intellectual 
prowess  with  which  it  was  his  fortune  to  be  contending.  I 
have  been  told  by  an  honored  member  of  the  bar  of  Nash- 
ville, only  a  few  days  since,  of  a  curious  and  characteristic 


138  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

scene  between  these  two  well-matched  rivals,  some  account 
of  which  I  shall  here  give.  In  a  case  of  much  importance,  a. 
certain  statute  of  limitations,  of  which  Judge  Brown  was  the 
acknowledged  author,  came  up  for  consideration.  Judge 
Crabb  made  a  most  elaborate  speech,  in  which  he  analyzed 
the  several  clauses  of  this  statute,  denounced  the  policy  upon, 
which  they  were  founded,  and  denied  both  the  justice  and 
validity  of  the  act.  His  argument  on  this  occasion  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  one  of  the  most  skilful  and  masterly 
which  ever  emanated  from  him.  The  satiric  power  which  he 
displayed,  and  the  logical  dexterity  of  which  he  showed  him- 
self to  be  master,  might  have  reminded  one  of  the  far-famed 
Proiiencal  Letters  of  Pascal.  When  Judge  Crabb  took  his 
seat,  exhibiting  at  the  moment  just  as  much  sedateness  and 
composure  as  had  marked  his  opening  words,  Judge  Brown^ 
excited  and  indignant  beyond  measure,  leaped  to  his  feet,  ac- 
knowledged himself  to  be  the  draughtsman  and  legislative 
propounder  of  the  derided  law,  defended  alike  its  phraseology 
and  its  purposes,  and  after  a  speech  of  far  more  than  ordinary 
length,  every  sentence  of  which  was  marked  with  acrimony 
and  wrathfulness,  closed  by  a  fierce  and  almost  insulting 
challenge  to  his  cool-headed  and  secretly  exultant  antagonist 
to  meet  him  on  some  other  occasion,  whenever  and  wherever 
he  might  please,  for  the  fuller  discussion  of  this  subject, 
pledging  himself  to  make  good  every  position  which  he  had 
there  assumed,  to  the  satisfaction  of  any  assemblage  of  any 
reasonable  men  in  Christendom,  and  somewhat  more  thaa 
intimating  that  should  such  a  conflict  as  he  invited  take 
place,  the  gentleman  to  whom  he  was  replying  would  have 
abundant  reason  to  lament  the  temerity  which  he  had  dis- 
played in  making  this  unjust  assault  upon  his  feelings.  The 
only  notice  which  Judge  Crabb  took  of  this  furious  harangue 
was  to  change  his  scat  towards  the  close  of  it,  and  to  whisper 
in  the  ear  of  the  gentleman  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  this- 
anecdote  an  inquiry  whether  he  thought  that  "he  (Judge 
Crabb)  had  said  or  done  aught  to  justify  so  tempestuous  an 
exhibition."  I  should  add  here  that  though  Judge  Crabb 
had  been  able,  by  dint  of  the  severest  self-training,  to  keep 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      I39« 

the  Stronger  passions  of  his  nature  under  the  control  of  his 
reason  he  was  well  known  to  be  a  man  of  the  highest  per- 
sonal bravery;  and  there  was  at  least  one  instance  in  his  life 
when  he  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  invite  a  gentleman  of  great 
celebrity  to  what  has  been  called  the  field  of  honor. 

Judge  Henry  Crabb  died  in  the  thirty-fourth  year  of  his 
age,  just  when  he  had  fairly  commenced  a  career  which,  had 
it  been  his  fortune  to  continue  upon  the  public  arena  a  few 
years  longer,  would  perhaps  have  numbered  him  among  the 
most  renowned  jurists  and  statesmen  that  our  country  has^ 
known. 

Judge  Crabb  was  elevated  to  the  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Tennessee  in  the  year  1827.  He  was  then  in  a  state 
of  rapid  physical  decline,  and  died  in  less  than  two  years 
thereafter.  In  looking  over  the  judicial  opinions  delivered 
by  him  during  this  brief  period,  I  have  found  two  of  them  to 
which  I  feel  inclined  to  invite  special  attention.  The  first  of 
these  was  delivered  in  a  case  where  the  interesting  question 
had  to  be  determined,  how  far  an  attorney  in  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee was  entitled  to  claim  pecuniary  remuneration  for  pro- 
fessional services  rendered  by  him,  upon  the  basis  of  a  quan- 
tum meruit.  The  following  short  extracts  from  that  opinion- 
will  I  am  sure  be  read  with  some  interest: 

"  The  defendant  says  that  the  complainant  cannot  recover, 
because  the  profession  of  the  law  is  of  an  honorable  character,, 
and  services  rendered  by  its  professors  gratuitous.  The  law 
of  England  is  certainly  as  contended  for,  both  in  relation  to- 
counsellors  and  physicians.  But  the  law  has  not  prevailed  in 
this  state  in  regard  to  either.  It  has  been  common  here  for 
professional  men,  as  well  as  other  persons  who  have  labored 
for  the  benefit  of  their  employers,  to  sue  for  and  obtain  what 
they  reasonably  should  have  for  their  services,  in  the  opinion 
of  an  impartial  jury.  Such  recoveries  have  been  constantly 
had  in  the  inferior  courts,  and  their  propriety  has  been  sanc- 
tioned in  this  court  in  repeated  instances."  *  *  *  "jj^ 
the  opinion  of  this  court  the  law  should  be  so;  it  is  conso- 
nant with  the  nature  of  our  institutions  that  faithful  labors 
should  be  rewarded  by  reasonable  remuneration;  and  he  who- 


140  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF    SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

works  at  the  bar,  and  he  who  works  at  the  plane ;  the  farrier, 
the  carpenter,  and  the  blacksmith,  should  all  possess  an 
•equality  of  rights,  and  be  paid  what  they  reasonably  deserve 
to  have,  according  to  the  nature  and  value  of  their  respective 
services, 

"  We  have  here  no  separate  orders  of  society — none  of  those 
exclusive  privileges  which  distinguish  the  lawyer  of  England, 
in  order  to  attach  him  to  the  existing  government,  and  which 
constitute  him  a  sort  of  noble  in  the  land — rising,  by  regular 
gradation,  from  an  apprentice's  humble  seat  in  Westminster 
Hall,  until  he  becomes  a  sergeant,  and  then  is  invited  to  a 
seat  within  the  bar  as  king's  counsel;  after  a  little  time  he 
■receives  some  sinecure  appointment,  or  is  placed  on  the  bench 
for  life,  with  a  salary  of  many  thousand  pounds  sterling;  or 
is  appointed  solicitor-general  to  the  king  or  queen,  or  attorney- 
general,  or  perchance  attains  to  the  highest  professional  hon- 
ors, by  taking  his  seat  on  the  wool-sack;  equal,  whatever 
may  have  been  his  birth  or  origin,  to  the  proudest  peer  he 
looks  upon. 

"  None  of  these  privileges  are  possessed  by  the  advocates 
and  attorneys  of  Tennessee.  True,  the  latter  may  |pe  pro- 
moted (if  promotion  it  may  be  called)  from  a  lucrative  prac- 
tice at  the  bar  to  a  troublesome  and  unproductive,  though 
honorable,  seat  on  the  bench, 

"  But,  upon  the  whole,  a  lawyer  in  England  is  as  different 
from  a  lawyer  here  as  a  man  clad  in  a  plain  suit  of  black  or 
■blue — his  head  such  as  nature  made  it — is  unlike  him  in  ap- 
pearance who  has  his  body  surrounded  with  a  long  robe  and 
his  head  covered  with  a  large  wig. 

"It  cannot  be  seriously  thought  that  the  General  Assembly 
intended  the  tax  fee,  which  is  directed  to  be  included  in  the 
bill  of  costs  in  each  suit,  as  the  sole  reward  of  professional 
•exertion."     *     *     * 

"But  it  is  contended  that  on  the  score  of  public  policy 
such  actions  should  be  discountenanced,  and  the  client  be  left 
to  give,  and  the  counsel  to  receive,  whatever  the  liberality  of 
the  former  may  prompt  him  to  offer,  or  the  conscience  of  the 
flatter  may  induce  him  to  ask.     On  this  point,  it  is  believed 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      I4L 

that  the  weight  of  argument  is  clearly  on  the  part  of  the  ad- 
judications of  Tennessee. 

"  Leave  the  doctrine  as  desired,  and  the  happy  moment  will 
always  be  selected  by  the  unconscientious  when  the  anxious 
suitor  is  elevated  by  hope,  or  depressed  by  fear,  to  extort  un- 
reasonable advances  in  the  shape  of  gratuities.  But  let  it  be 
known  that  industry  and  attention  and  ardor  will  be  certainly 
compensated  by  reasonable  payment,  and  you  encourage  for- 
bearance on  the  part  of  the  attorney  or  advocate.  He  is  not 
tempted  to  get  what  he  can,  while  the  fever  of  his  client  is 
up,  but  waits  in  security  until  his  labors  are  performed,  his 
services  rendered,  knowing  that  he  will  at  last  receive  what  a. 
disinterested  jury  shall  award." 

Perhaps  the  most  elaborate  opinion  ever  enunciated  by 
Judge  Crabb  during  the  brief  period  that  he  occupied  a  seat 
upon  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court,  was  that  delivered  by 
him  in  the  very  interesting  case  of  Vaughn  v.  Phebe,  to  be 
found  in  Martin  &  Yerger's  Reports.  This  was  a  suit  for  free- 
dom instituted  by  one  claiming  to  be  of  Indian  ancestry.  The 
main  question  to  be  decided  was  whether  the  claim  to  freedom 
could  be  sustained  by  evidence  of  general  reputation,  as  in, 
ordinary  cases  of  pedigree.  The  caSe  was  ably  argued  on 
either  side,  and  a  most  copious  citation  of  authorities,  both 
English  and  American,  seems  to  have  been  made.  The  whole 
discussion  will  be  found  deeply  interesting,  and  the  opinion  of 
the  court  bears  evidence  of  the  most  laborious  scrutiny  of  de- 
cided cases,  and  of  a  sage  discrimination  among  conflicting 
authorities  worthy  of  the  highest  commendation.  Want  of 
space  forbids  the  presentation  of  more  than  a  very  short  ex- 
tract ;  but  this  will  suffice  to  show  how  felicitously  Judge 
Crabb  was  capable  of  expressing  himself  in  a  case  where 
great  principles  were  involved.     He  says : 

"  How  is  an  individual  in  this  country,  who  is  unfortunate 
enough  to  have  a  woolly  head  and  a  colored  skin,  to  prove 
that  he  is  free  ?  Not  being  white,  nor  copper-colored,  nor 
having  strait  hair  and  a  prominent  nose,  the  presumption  pro- 
bably is  that  he  is  a  slave.  Contrary  to  the  general  rule,  he 
who  is  charged  with  having  trespassed  upon  his  person,  pleads 


142  BENXH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

.an  affirmative  plea,  and  yet  need  not  prove  it.  He  says, 
in  justification  of  his  trespass,  that  the  plaintiff  is  a  slave,  and 
yet,  on  that  plaintiff  is  devolved  the  onus  probandi  of  show- 
ing himself  to  be  a  free  man.  How  is  he  to  show  it?  He 
may,  perhaps,  procure  testimony  that  he  or  some  ancestor 
was  in  possession  of  freedom  ;  that  he  has  acted  as  a  free 
man ;  that  he  has  been  received  as  a  free  man  in  society  ;  and 
very  soon  will  he  find  himself  under  the  necessity,  increasing 
in  proportion  to  the  distance  he  has  to  travel  into  time  past, 
for  want  of  other  evidence,  to  use  hearsay,  that  he  or  his  an- 
-cestor  was  commonly  called  a  free  man,  or  commonly  reputed 
a  free  man ;  or,  in  other  words,  evidence  of  common  reputa- 
tion. And  why  should  he  not?  Is  it  a  concern  of  so  little 
moment,  that  the  law,  in  its  benignity,  ought  to  refuse  it  those 
aids  for  its  support  and  protection,  that  have  been  so  exuber- 
antly extended  in  analogous  cases  ?  Is  it  of  less  importance 
than  the  right  of  digging  stone  upon  the  waste  of  the  lord  of 
a  manor  ?  Or  the  right  of  the  lord  to  take  coals  from  under 
the  lands  of  those  holding  from  him  ?  Or  a  right  to  have  a 
sheep-walk  over  a  piece  of  land  ?  Or  to  a  inodtts  by  which 
six  pence  an  acre  should  be  paid  in  lieu  of  small  tithes  ? 
These  are  a  few  out  of  many  cases. 

"  But  it  is  said  that  these  rights,  franchises,  &c.,  which  in 
England  are  permitted  to  be  established  by  common  reputa- 
tion, are,  or  savor  of,  di  public  character ;  and  therefore  the  pub- 
lic, where  this  reputation  is  to  be  formed,  will  be  more  apt  to 
possess  a  knowledge  of  their  existence,  &c.  We  put  it  to  the 
candid  and  enlightened,  whether  the  right  to  freedom  has  not 
in  this  respect  very  much  the  advantage  over  many  of  those 
rights  where  such  evidence  is  every  day  received  in  the  Eng- 
lish courts  ?  Indeed,  it  is  no  light  matter  to  be  a  freeman  in 
these  United  States.  Freedom  in  this  country  is  not  a  mere 
name — a  cheat  with  which  the  few  gull  the  many.  It  is 
something  substantial.  It  makes  itself  manifest  by  many 
privileges,  immunities,  external  public  acts.  It  is  not  confined 
in  its  operations  to  privacy,  or  to  the  domestic  circle.  It 
walks  abroad  in  its  operations^ — transfers  its  possessor,  even 
if  he  be  black,  or  mulatto,  or  copper-colored,  from  the  kitchen 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  1 43 

and  the  cotton-field  to  the  court-house  and  the  election 
ground ;  makes  him  talk  of  Magna  Charta  and  the  constitu- 
tion; in  some  states  renders  him  a  politician,  brings  him 
acquainted  with  the  leading  citizens,  busies  him  in  the  politi- 
cal canvass  for  office,  takes  him  to  the  ballot-box ;  and  above 
all,  secures  to  him  the  enviable  and  inestimable  trial  by  jury. 
Can  it  be  said  that  there  is  nothing  of  a  public  nature  in  a 
right  that  thus,  from  its  necessary  operation,  places  a  man  in 
many  respects  on  an  equality  with  the  richest,  and  greatest, 
and  best  in  the  land,  and  brings  him  into  contact  with  the 
whole  community  ?  Can  it  be  said  that  common  reputation 
is  no  evidence  of  a  right,  producing  so  many  effects  relative 
in  their  character,  to  that  veiy  society  where  the  common  un- 
derstanding, report,  or  reputation  is  required  to  exist  ?  Can 
it  be  said  that  the  community  or  neighborhood,  as  the  case 
may  be,  the  ^'public"  around  a  man,  will  too  readily  give 
credence  to  a  claim  by  which  the  individual  who  makes  it  ob- 
tains among  themselves  so  high  a  comparative  elevation  ?  If 
those  around  him  have  interest  or  prejudice  they  will  usually 
"be  against  his  claim.  It  is  difficult  to  suppose  a  case  where 
■common  reputation  would  concede  to  a  man  the  right  to  free- 
dom if  his  right  were  a  groundless  one.  If  such  a  case  be 
imagined,  it  will  most  probably  be  an  extreme  one  ;  and  we 
must  bear  in  mind  that  when  the  evidence  we  are  speaking  of 
is  received,  it  is  not  regarded  as  conclusive.  It  is  to  be 
weighed,  encountered,  and  compared  with  other  evidence ; 
and  ultimately  to  have  no  more  effect  than,  after  a  full  exam- 
ination, the  jury  shall  be  disposed  to  give  it." 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  these  views — so  manly  and  liberal 
— were  uttered  by  a  slave-holding  judge,  in  the  bosom  of  a 
slave-holding  community,  nearly  a  half  century  ago,  and  long 
before  the  fierce  agitations  in  behalf  of  immediate  abolition 
had  obtained  the  least  influence  in  any  populous  section  of 
the  Republic. 

When  Judge  Crabb  departed  this  life,  he  had  become  the 
father  of  a  single  child — a  fine  boy,  then  in  his  infancy.  With 
the  latter  I  formed  a  personal  acquaintance  about  the  year 
1847,  in  the  City  ot  Vicksburg,  where  he  had  just  located  for 


144  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

the  practice  of  the  law.  He  evinced  much  intellectual  prom- 
ise, and  would,  doubtless,  long  ere  this,  have  obtained  much 
distinction  at  the  bar,  but  for  the  occurrence  of  circumstances- 
which  I  should,  perhaps,  here  briefly  relate.  The  warmly 
contested  Presidential  struggle  of  1848  was  in  progress,  when, 
it  became  my  duty  to  address  a  large  assemblage  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Vicksburg,  in  support  of  what  was  known  as  the 
Democratic  ticket.  Whilst  this  meeting  was  in  progress,  an 
accidental  quarrel  ensued  between  Henry  A.  Crabb,  the  young 
gentleman  of  whom  I  have  been  speaking,  and  a  Mr.  Jenkins, 
the  editor  of  a  Democratic  newspaper  then  published  in  Vicks- 
burg. This  dispute  resulted  in  a  street  fight  between  the  par- 
ties to  it,  next  day,  in  which  Jenkins  (a  young  man  of  great 
worth)  was  unfortunately  killed.  Crabb  was  afterwards  tried 
upon  a  charge  of  murder,  and  was  honorably  acquitted. 

A  few  years  subsequent  to  this  occurrence,  I  met  young 
Crabb  again,  in  the  far-off  State  of  California.  Here  he  had 
been  more  or  less  successful  as  an  attorney,  had  served  re- 
peatedly in  the  state  legislature,  and  had  become  a  man  of 
high  standing  and  extended  influence.  He  was  afterwards  a. 
prominent  candidate  for  the  United  States  Senate;  was  one 
of  the  Fillmore  and  Donelson  electors  of  the  State  of  California 
in  1865,  and  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  led  a  gallant  band  of 
young  Californians  into  the  State  of  Sonora,  upon  an  arrange- 
ment which  he  had  previously  concerted  with  certain  Mexi- 
can chiefs,  by  the  aid  of  whom  he  expected  confidently  to  be 
able  to  effect  a  revolution  against  Mexican  authority.  This 
project  was  defeated  alone  by  the  treachery  of  his  Mexican 
associates,  Crabb  and  his  party  were  betrayed  into  the  hands- 
of  the  local  authorities  in  Sonora,  and  all  of  them  were  im- 
mediately put  to  death  in  a  most  insulting  and  barbarous  man- 
ner. I  saw  Colonel  Crabb  a  few  days  before  he  set  out  upon 
this  ill-fated  expedition,  and  hearing  from  his  lips  that  he- 
was  then  in  his  thirty-fourth  year,  I  ventured  to  call  his  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  his  father  had  died  at  that  precise 
period  of  life.  I  mention  this  merely  as  a  curious  co-inci- 
dence. 


CHAPTER  VIL 

Judge  Catron. — Felix  Grandy. — Jenkin  Whiteside. — Thomas  H.  Benton. — O.  B. 
Hayes.— Sam.  Houston — Abram  P.  Maury. — Judge  Turley. —  Judge  Reese  and 
Judge  Greene. — Judge  Abram  Caruthers  — Pleasant  M.  Miller. — George  W.  Camp- 
bell.— General  Ewell. — Return  J.  Meigs. — Francis  B.  Fogg. — ^James  K.  Polk. —  John 
Bell. — ]ohn  Marshall. — Andrew  J.  Ewing. — Thomas  Fletcher. — Thomas  A.  R.  Nel- 
son.— Balie  Peyton. — Henry  A.  Wise. 

Whilst  Judge  Crabb  held  the  position  which  he  so  highly 
adorned,  as  one  of  the  judge3  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ten- 
nessee, he  had  been  officially  associated  for  a  short  period 
with  the  distinguished  personage  whose  career  will  now  be 
briefly  noticed.  John  Catron  is  a  name  which  will  be  long 
held  in  veneration  by  all  American  patriots,  and  by  the  ad- 
mirers of  intellect  and  learning.  His  birth  was  obscure ;  his 
early  life  was  beset  with  many  difficulties,  and  his  ultimate 
rise  to  places  of  the  highest  civic  trust  and  dignity  reflects 
much  credit  upon  our  republican  institutions.  Judge  Catron 
— with  but  a  limited  education,  and  without  a  single  influen- 
tial friend  to  aid  or  encourage  his  early  efforts  for  professional 
success — located  himself  in  the  little  village  of  Sparta.  Here 
in  a  few  years,  he  acquired  much  reputation  for  ability,  ac- 
cumulated enough  to  justify  his  removing  to  a  more  commer- 
cial localit}',  and  (as  I  have  heard  from  his  own  lips)  by  the 
advice  of  General  Andrew  Jackson  became  a  resident  of  the 
City  of  Nashville.  Here  he  quickly  rose  to  eminence,  and  ob- 
tained, in  a  few  years,  a  seat  upon  the  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Tennessee ;  from  which  position  he  was  elevated  to 
the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  by  the 
favor  of  General  Jackson,  only  a  day  or  two  before  he  retired 
to  private  life. 

I  knew  Judge  Catron  well.     He  was  in  some  respects  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  men  I  have  ever  met.     His  heart  was 
warm  and  generous ;  his  energy  and  firmness  in  the  perform- 
ance of  public  duty,  were  perhaps  never  surpassed;  he  was- 
•as  simple-minded   and  as  simple-mannered  as  a   child ;  his 


146  BENCH   AND   BAR  OF  SOUTH   AND   SOUTHWEST. 

confidence  in  other  men  was  such  as  often  to  involve  him  in 
difficulties  and  embarrassments ;  and  there  was  scarcely  any 
sacrifice  which  he  did  not  stand  willing  to  make  in  order  to 
further  the  welfare  of  a  friend,  or  to  relieve  the  victims  of 
misfortune.  Among  the  members  of  the  bar  to  whom  he 
was  best  known,  he  stood  very  high  as  a  common  law  lawyer; 
and  in  other  departments  of  jurisprudential  science  he  was 
not  far  behind  the  most  learned  of  his  compeers.  His  mind 
was  acute  and  vigorous;  his  power  of  juridical  analysis  such 
as  but  few  can  boast;  his  capacity  for  labor  most  marvellous, 
and  his  desire  to  do  justice  and  uphold  established  principle, 
such  as  will  ever  command  for  him  the  respect  and  gratitude 
of  his  countrymen.  It  must  be  admitted  that  this  excellent 
functionary  was  never  entirely  able  to  supply  the  deficiencies 
of  his  early  education,  and  that  he  was  never  fortunate  enough 
to  acquire  a  graceful  and  polished  style  as  a  writer.  Most  of 
his  opinions  whilst  on  the  bench  will  ever  be  held  as  high 
authority,  and  not  a  few  of  them  are  replete  with  suggestions 
of  a  moral  cast,  and  have  reference  to  the  suppression  of 
social  crime,  wliich  it  would  be  well  for  legislators  of  the 
present  generation,  both  in  Tennessee  and  elsewhere,  to  read 
and  ponder.  The  following  extract  from  an  opinion  delivered 
by  Judge  Catron  in  a  case  of  deep  interest  will  enable  the 
reader  to  estimate  very  accurately  his  peculiar  style  of  ex- 
pression in  regard  to  matters  deeply  involving  his  feelings  as 
a  member  of  society  and  as  a  judicial  conservator  as  well  of 
the  public  morals  as  of  the  dignity  of  the  bar : 

Calvin  M.  Smith,  an*  attorney,  had  accepted  a  challenge  to 
fight  a  duel  with  Robert  M.  Brank,  and  the  said  duel  had  ac- 
tually been  afterwards  fought  in  the  State  of  Kentucky. 
Brank  was  slain,  and  Smith  had  been  indicted  in  the  State  of 
Kentucky  for  murder.  An  information  was  filed  against 
Smith  upon  the  above  facts ,  to  which  he  demurred.  The 
court  in  which  these  proceedings  had  occurred  gave  judg- 
ment against  Smith  and  ordered  that  he  should  be  stricken 
from  the  roll  of  attorneys.  From  this  judgment  Smith  having 
•prosecuted  an  appeal  in  the  nature  of  a  writ  of  error  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee,  after  full  argument  Judge 
Catron  thus  expressed  himself. 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      1 4/ 

"  Much  inquiry  has  been  made  into  the  powers  of  the 
courts  to  remove  attorneys ;  if  the  old  statute  H.  4,  had  been 
■examined,  that  which  has  been  searched  for  and  found  ob- 
scurely hinted  at  in  so  many  authors,  could  have  been  found 
in  a  short  paragraph ;  the  statute  first  provides  that  all  who 
are  of  good  fame  shall  be  put  upon  the  roll,  after  examination 
of  the  justices  at  their  discretion,  and  after  having  been 
sworn  w^l  and  truly  to  serve  in  their  offices ;  '  And  if  any 
such  attorney  be  hereafter  notoriously  foimd  in  any  default,  of 
record,  or  otheriuise,  he  shall  forswear  the  court,  and  never 
after  be  received  to  make  any  suit,  in  any  court  of  the  king. 
They  that  be  good  and  virtuous,  and  of  good  fame,  shall  be 
received  and  sworn,  at  the  discretion  of  the  justices;  and  if 
they  are  notoriously  in  default,  at  discretion,  may  be  removed 
upon  evidence  either  of  record,  or  not  of  record.' 

"  This  statute  has  received  the  sanction  of  four  centuries 
without  alteration,  and  almost  without  addition  ;  governing  a 
profession  more  numerous  and  powerful,  (when  applied  to 
•counsel  also,  as  in  most  of  the  United  States)  than  any  known 
to  the  history  of  the  world,  without  complaint  of  its  provi- 
sions, or  abuse  of  power  on  the  part  of  the  court  in  its  exer 
cise,  so  far  as  the  judicial  history  of  England  or  America  fur- 
nishes  instances.  It  is  remarkable  that  there  is  not  a  provi- 
sion in  any  act  of  assembly  of  Tennessee  upon  the  subject, 
but  what  is  in  strict  affirmance  of  it,  nor  does  a  single  provi- 
sion go  beyond  it;  our  statutes  require  that  the  attorney  shall 
be  of  good  moral  character,  learned,  and  of  capable  mind. 
A  loss  of  either  of  these  is  good  ground  for  withdrawing  the 
privilege  conferred  by  the  license. 

"  Suppose  an  attorney  were  to  become  insane,  by  the  hand 
of  providence,  or  by  intemperance,  he  would  be  disqualified, 
and  the  license  should  be  withdrawn ;  were  he  to  become  be- 
sotted or  notoriously  profligate,  he  would  be  neither  virtuous 
nor  of  good  fame,  and  should  be  stricken  from  the  roll.  An 
hundred  instances  might  be  cited,  where  attorneys,  once  qual- 
ified, might  become  disqualified,  when  the  privilege  should  be 
taken  from  them.  Who  must  perform  this  duty  ?  The  power 
which  has  conferred  the  appointment;  that   is,  every  court 


148  BENCH   AND   BAR   OF  SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

where  the  attorney  is  permitted  to  practice,  for  they  equally 
extend  the  privilege.  The  principle  is  almost  universal  in  all 
governments,  that  the  power  which  confers  an  office,  has  also 
the  right  to  remove  the  officer,  for  good  cause — the  county 
court,  constable,  etc.;  the  senate,  officers  elected  by  the  legis- 
lature and  people ;  in  all  these  cases  the  tribunal  removing  is 
of  necessity  the  judge  of  the  law  and  fact ;  to  ascertain  which, 
every  species  of  evidence  can  be  heard,  legal  in  its  character, 
according  to  common  law  rules,  consistent  with  our  constitu- 
tion and  laws.  This  court,  the  circuit  court,  or  the  county 
court,  on  a  motion  to  strike  an  attorney  from  the  rolls,  has 
the  same  right,  (growing  out  of  a  similar  necessity)  to  ex- 
amine evidence  of  the  facts,  that  the  Senate  of  the  State  has, 
when  trying  an  impeachment.  The  authorities  to  sustain 
these  positions  are  all  cited  in  the  case  of  the  State  against 
Fields  (i  Mar.  &  Yer.  Rep.)  and  will  not  here  be  referred  to." 

After  going  into  a  detailed  examination  of  the  mode  of 
proceeding  in  such  cases  provided  by  the  State  of  Tennessee, 
and  denying  that  the  defendant  in  the  case  under  examina- 
tion had  a  right  to  file  a  demurrer,  he  says : 

"The  act  of  1801,  ch.  32,  sec.  3,  declares  the  killing  in  a 
duel,  murder;  and  that  the  survivor  shall  suffer  death.  This 
provision  was  wholly  unnecessary,  as  it  always  has  been  mur- 
der, punishable  with  death,  without  the  benefit  of  clergy,  to 
kill  in  a  duel.  The  second  of  the  slayer  being  an  accessory 
before  the  fact,  and  a  principal  present  when  the  murder  was 
committed,  aiding  and  abetting,  is  equally  guilty  of  murder, 
and  subject  to  suffer  death.  It  is  the  law  of  every  Christain 
country  in  the  known  world.  Notwithstanding  the  laws,  sanc- 
tioned by  the  concurring  opinion  of  mankind  for  centuries,  it 
is  gravely  insisted  (accompanied  by  predictions  of  terrible 
consequences)  that  it  is  not  our  duty  to  have  them  executed, 
because  it  is  said  good  character  is  not  forfeited  in  this  in- 
stance, and  therefore  disqualification  should  not  follow ;  to 
prove  which,  the  acts  of  many  English  names  in  the  last  and 
present  centuries  are  referred  to,  as  also  many  in  the  United 
States,  -who  have  sanctioned  the  practice  by  being  parties  to 
duels,  and  who  continued  thereafter  equally  distinguished 
members  of  society.     Let  us  examine  this  matter. 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  1 49 

"  It  is  true,  as  a  part  of  the  history  of  our  species,  that 
many  men  of  strong  mihds,  have  equally  strong  passions, 
which  are  ill  controlled,  and  subject  such  men  to  grosser 
errors  than  others  with  fewer  mental  advantages;  these  are 
the  men  of  worth  that  fight  duels,  having  no  guide  but  blind 
and  reckless  passion,  when  aroused,  regardless  of  their  own 
lives  or  those  of  others ;  hence  their  conduct  furnishes  the 
worst  possible  evidence  upon  which  to  ground  a  rule  for  the 
government  of  society.  This  class  of  duellists  are  not  less 
wicked  than  others  that  we  will  name,  but  their  standing  ren- 
ders it  more  difficult  to  punish  them. 

"  Another  set  of  men  fight  duels  (or  more  generally  make 
a  show  towards  it)  to  gratify  their  vanity,  by  drawing  upon 
themselves  a  little  temporary  notice,  which  their  personal 
worth  or  good  conduct  cannot  procure.  These  are  always 
worthless  coxcombs,  equally  destitute  of  bravery,  virtue,  or 
sense,  whose  feeble  nerves  would  be  shattered  and  prostrated 
at  the  sight  of  an  enemy  in  the  field  of  battle,  who  are  ridicu- 
lous in  every  situation  when  courage  is  required.  This  class 
of  duellists  do  little  harm  other  than  to  disturb  the  community; 
they  quarrel  to  make  peace,  or  if  officious  intermeddlers  force 
them  into  a  fight,  are  too  much  alarmed  to  hit,  or  perhaps 
see  their  antagonist.  The  affair  is  laughed  at  as  a  farce,  and 
the  parties  turned  over  to  the  constable. 

"  Many  of  this  description  challenge,  because  they  know 
the  party  challenged  will  not  fight,  having  a  due  regard  to  re- 
ligion, the  laws  of  the  country,  and  his  family.  The  infamy 
and  worthlessness  of  the  challenger  generally  is  such  as  to 
disgrace  any  decent  man  to  notice  him.  These  pretenders  to 
bravery  and  gentlemanship  are  always  absolute  cowards  ;  for 
no  man  will  challenge  another,  knowing  he  either  will  not  or 
dare  not  fight,  unless  he  be  cowardly.  The  officers  of  our 
army  at  present  dare  not  fight;  therefore  it  is  a  disgrace  for 
one  officer  to  challenge  another.  The  most  distinguished 
man  in  the  service  lately  refused  to  accept  or  reply  to  a 
challenge,  from  an  officer  of  equal  rank,  because  he  feared 
his  God  and  the  laws  of  his  country;  he  has  met  his  due 
reward  by  having  accorded  to  him  the  unlimited  approbation 
of  his  countrymen. 


150  BENCH    AND   BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

"  Let  it  be  once  understood  that  the  bar  of  Tennessee  dare 
not  fight,  and  it  will  be  deemed  cowardly  to  challenge  a  mem- 
ber of  it ;  and  this  court  solemnly  warn  every  lawyer,  that  if 
he  violates  the  laws  made  to  suppress  duelling,  we  will  strike 
him  from  the  rolls  of  the  court  upon  the  fact  being  made 
known  to  us.  The  truth  is,  such  men  are  often  insolent  and 
impudent  bullies,  who  tyrannize  over  and  impose  upon  all 
orderly  men  about  them,  who  literally  dragoon  society,  by 
fear  of  personal  violence,  into  silence  and  seeming  acquiesc- 
ence with  respect  to  their  conduct.  That  such  a  counsellor 
is  a  disgrace,  and  a  serious  encumbrance  to  any  court  where 
he  is  permitted  to  practice,  all  will  admit;  those  who  engage 
in  duels,  the  statutes  deem,  and  we  will  treat,  as  of  this  de- 
scription." 

After  expatiating  at  considerable  length  upon  other  classes 
lof  duellists,  and  pointing  out  the  numerous  evil  consequences 
proceeding  from  this  abominable  practice,  the  judge  said: 

"  Such  are  duelling  and  its  consequences  ;  and  such,  gener- 
ally, the  characters  of  the  men  who  engage  in  it ;  which  if 
it  does  not  involve  wickedness  and  criminality,  crime  deserves 
no  name,  and  morality  no  place  in  the  human  heart — these 
do  not  exist,  if  this  be  not  a  crime." 

I  take  the  liberty  of  subjoining  here  an  extract  from  a  num- 
ber of  the  Spectator,  in  which  the  celebrated  Addison  gave 
expression  to  views  very  similar  to  those  enunciated  from  the 
bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee  more  than  one 
hundred  years  after. 

"  The  placing  the  point  of  honor  in  this  false  kind  of  cour- 
age, has  given  occasion  to  the  very  refuse  of  mankind,  wha 
have  neither  virtue  nor  common  sense,  to  set  up  for  men  of 
honor.  An  English  peer,  who  has  not  long  been  dead,  used 
to  tell  a  pleasant  story  of  a  French  gentleman  that  visited 
him  early  one  morning  at  Paris,  and,  after  great  profession  of 
respect,  let  him  know  that  it  was  in  his  power  to  oblige  him  ; 
which  in  short  amounted  to  this,  that  he  believed  he  could  tell 
his  lordship  the  person's  name  who  jostled  him  as  he  came 
out  of  the  opera;  but,  before  he  would  proceed,  he  begged 
his  lordship  that  he  would  not  deny  him  the  honor  of  making: 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  I5I 

him  his  second.  The  English  lord,  to  avoid  being  drawn  into 
a  very  foolish  affair,  told  him  that  he  was  under  engagements 
for  his  next  two  duels  to  a  couple  of  particular  friends.  Upon 
which  the  gentleman  immediately  withdrew. 

"  The  beating  down  (continues  Mr.  Addison)  this  false 
notion  of  honor,  in  so  vain  and  lively  a  people  as  those  of 
France,  is  deservedly  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  glorious 
parts  of  the  present  king's  reign.  It  is  a  pity  but  the  punish- 
ment of  these  mischievous  notions  should  have  in  it  some 
particular  circumstances  of  shame  and  infamy ;  that  those 
who  are  slaves  to  them  may  see  that  instead  of  advancing 
their  reputations,  they  lead  them  to  ignominy  and  dishonor, 

"  Death  is  not  sufficient  to  deter  men,  who  make  it  their 
glory  to  despise  it ;  but  if  every  one  that  fought  a  duel  were 
to  stand  in  the  pillory  it  would  quickly  lessen  the  number  of 
these  imaginary  men  of  honor,  and  put  an  end  to  so  absurd 
a  practice. 

"  When  honor  is  a  support  to  virtuous  principles,  and  runs 
parallel  with  the  laws  of  God  and  our  country,  it  cannot  be 
too  much  cherished  and  encouraged ;  but  when  the  dictates 
of  honor  are  contrary  to  those  of  religion  and  equity,  they 
are  the  greatest  depravations  of  human  nature ;  by  giving 
wrong  ambitions  and  false  ideas  of  what  is  good  and  lauda- 
ble ;  and  should,  therefore,  be  exploded  by  all  governments, 
and  driven  out  as  the  bane  and  plague  of  human  society." 

A  few  years  ago,  when  certain  influences  were  actively  at 
work,  the  renewal  of  which  no  true  patriot  could  desire,  there 
were  some  persons  of  no  little  social  consideration  who  did 
not  hesitate  to  complain  very  clamorously  that  Judge  Catron 
did  not  resign  his  commission  as  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  Union  upon  the  assumption  of  a  hostile  attitude  to  the 
general  government  on  the  part  of  his  adopted  state — Ten- 
nessee. This  was  certainly  doing  him  great  injustice.  His 
authority  as  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  did  not  emanate  from  the  State  of  Tennessee.  He 
was  emphatically  a  federal — or  to  speak  more  correctly  a 
««//<?;/^/ functionary.  When  he  took  his  official  oath  as  judge, 
he  did  not  assume  an  obligation  to  resign  in  the  event  that  either 


152  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

the  State  of  Tennessee,  or  the  State  of  Kentucky — where  in 
truth  he  was  born — should  choose  to  withdraw  from  the 
Union.  Besides,  the  latter  of  these  states  certainly  can  not 
be  said  in  point  of  fact  ever  to  have  participated  in  the  scheme 
of  secession.  His  first  duty  undoubtedly  was  to  the  Federal 
government.  Sworn  to  maintain  the  constitution  and  laws 
of  the  Union,  as  "the  supreme  law  of  the  land,"  how  could 
he  consistently  withdraw  from  the  official  position  which  he 
held,  when,  by  doing  so,  under  the  circumstances  existing  in 
1 861,  he  would  have  imparted  much  moral  strength,  at  least, 
to  a  cause  bottomed  upon  the  policy  of  overturning  that  law 
and  destroying  that  government  with  which  he  himself  stood 
connected  by  the  most  sacred  ties  ?  But,  as  before  observed, 
his  holding  on  to  his  judicial  commission  gave  serious  um- 
brage to  a  certain  class  of  his  fellow  citizens  at  the  time;  and 
a  few  over-excited  persons  in  the  city  where  he  had  so  long 
resided,  even  went  so  far  as  to  signify  to  him  in  a  formal 
manner  their  desire  that  he  should  leave  the  State  of  Tennes- 
see at  once — upon  a  plea  that  so  long  as  he  continued  to  re- 
side there,  he  would  have  it  in  his  power  to  exercise  a  sort 
of  espionage  upon  certain  proceedings  then  in  progress.  As 
a  sincere  friend  of  peace  he  did  not  hesitate  to  comply  with 
this  semi-friendly  monition,  being  altogether  averse  to  un- 
kind and  angry  contention  with  those  who  had  been  his 
neighbors  and  friends  for  something  like  the  third  of  a  cen- 
tury. A  characteristic  anecdote  should  here  be  related. 
When  Judge  Catron  arrived  in  the  City  of  Louisville,  on  the 
occasion  just  referred  to,  it  chanced  that  in  one  of  the  Union 
newspapers  published  there,  an  exceedingly  acrimonious  edi- 
torial appeared,  complaining  violently  of  the  disrespect  and 
injustice  which  had  been  inflicted  upon  this  venerable  per- 
sonage by  the  citizens  of  Nashville.  So  soon  as  he  read  this 
article,  Judge  Catron  responded  to  it  over  his  own  signature 
denying  that  any  personal  indignity  had  been  done  him,  say- 
ing all  that  it  was  possible  for  him  to  say  in  extenuation  of 
the  alleged  outrage,  and  expressing  for  the  citizens  of  Ten- 
nessee in  general,  and  for  the  people  of  Nashville  in  particu- 
lar, sentiments  of  the  warmest  affection  and  respect.     I  well 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  1 53 

recollect  meeting  Judge  Catron  on  the  street-side  in  Nash- 
ville one  morning,  a  short  time  subsequent  to  the  election  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  presidency,  and  making  known  to  him  the 
serious  apprehension  which  I  felt  that  a  certain  well-known 
class  of  Southern  politicians  in  the  South  were  then  medi- 
tating the  adoption  of  movements  looking  to  the  prosecution 
of  a  war  for  the  destruction  of  Union.  I  asked  him  what  he 
thought  as  to  the  expediency  of  the  true  friends  of  the  Union 
in  Tennessee  adopting  some  early  steps,  of  a  purely  pacific 
and  friendly  character,  for  the  purpose  of  arresting,  if  possible, 
the  movements  alluded  to,  before  they  should  have  received 
body  and  dangerous  strength — suggesting  especially  to  him, 
as  I  did  to  others  at  the  time,  the  expediency  of  sending  dele- 
gates to  the  State  of  Georgia,  where  a  convention  was  shortly 
to  be  held,  remonstrating,  kindly  and  earnestly,  against  the 
adoption  of  an  ordinance  of  secession  by  the  people  of  that 
state — then,  as  I  thought,  most  seriously  menaced.  Never 
did  I  see  more  distress  depicted  upon  a  human  face  than  that 
which  I  then  beheld  displayed  upon  the  visage  of  Judge  Cat- 
ron. But  he  could  not  be  brought  to  believe  that  the  danger 
was  so  serious  as  I  had  suggested.  He  supposed  that  the 
excitement  at  that  time  raging  was  but  temporary  in  its  char- 
acter, and  would  soon  pass  away  without  any  large  amount 
of  public  detriment  of  any  kind.  He  insisted  that  if  proper 
vigilance  and  energy  should  be  used  by  the  government  in 
Washington  City — such  as  Jackson  had  brought  into  exercise 
in  1832 — the  people  of  the  South  would  be  found  as  true  sup- 
porters of  the  Union  as  they  had  been  in  former  days,  and 
that  it  would  be  best  that  in  Tennessee  the  subject  upon  which 
we  were  conversing  should  be  as  little  discussed  as  possible. 
This  was  the  last  time  that  I  met  this  excellent  and  patriotic 
person. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  offer  a  few  remarks  upon  the  life  and 
character  of  a  man  whose  name  has  been  more  or  less  con- 
nected with  the  prominent  events  in  American  history  for 
almost  three  quarters  of  a  century.  Among  the  first  books 
which  fell  into  my  hands,  in  the  days  of  my  early  manhood, 
devoted  to  what  is  known  as  party  politics,  was  a  work,  now 


154  BENCH   AND   BAR  OF  SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

but  little  read,  called  the  "Olive  Branch,"  written  by  the 
once  famous  Matthew  Carey.  From  the  pages  of  this  enter- 
taining and  instructive  volume,  I  learned,  that  during  the  war 
of  1812-15,  the  Federal  editors  of  the  most  malevolent  and 
denunciatory  stamp  were  accustomed  to  associate  three  per- 
sonages of  very  dissimilar  attributes,  and  to  write  very  flip- 
pantly and  insultingly  of  "James  Madison,  Felix  Grundy  and 
the  Devil."  This  naturally  enkindled  in  my  mind  much  cur- 
iosity concerning  the  second  mentioned  of  these  alleged 
workers  of  iniquity ;  which  curiosity  was  revived  and  inten- 
sified, a  few  years  later,  on  my  becoming  a  citizen  of  Alabama 
in  the  autumn  of  1825;  where  I  heard  much  said  by  those 
with  whom  *I  associated,  touching  the  marvellous  achieve- 
ments of  Mr.  Grundy  as  an  advocate  in  defence  of  persons 
charged  with  the  perpetration  of  criminal  offences.  It  was  about 
this  period,  or  perhaps  a  little  later,  that  I  heard  of  Mr. 
Grundy's  appearing  in  defence  of  a  }oung  man  accused  of 
having  murdered  a  traveller  on  the  road-side,  near  the  little 
village  of  Triana,  under  very  peculiar  circumstances  indeed. 
The  young  man,  it  was  said,  having  walked  out  from  the 
aforesaid  village  one  evening,  with  a  gun  on  his  shoulder,  for  the 
alleged  purpose  of  hunting  partridges,  then  much  abounding 
in  the  vicinage,  was  seen  to  elevate  iiis  piece,  just  after  a  man 
on  horse-back  had  passed  him,  and  to  fire  it  off.  The  travel- 
ler dropped  from  his  horse  a  lifeless  corpse.  Those  who  had 
been  spectators  of  this  deed  immediately  rushed  to  the  spot,. 
and  were  informed  by  the  alleged  culprit  that  he  had  fired  at 
a  hawk  which  he  had  seen  upon  a  tree  only  a  few  steps  from 
the  place  where  the  dead  bod\'  of  the  traveller  was  found,, 
and  that  he  had  no  intention  whatever  of  doing  the  least  in- 
jury to  the  man  whom  he  did  not  deny  he  had  deprived  of 
life.  It  did  not  appear  that  the  slayer  and  his  victim  had  ever 
before  met,  or  that  there  was  any  particular  motive  which 
could  have  prompted  the  latter  to  this  strange  act  of  violence. 
I  heard  much  from  those  who  had  witnessed  the  trial  of  this 
young  man,  of  the  wondrous  powers  which  Mr.  Grundy  had 
exerted  in  his  defence ;  of  the  ingenuity  which  he  had  dis- 
played in  the  discussion  of  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  of  his 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  1 5  5, 

pathetic  appeals  to  the  jury  in  behalf  of  his  youthful  client; 
appeals,  which  it  was  reported  had  drawn  tears  from  the  eyes 
of  all  who  had  been  in  hearing  of  this  highly  gifted  speaker. 
As  was  to  have  been  expected,  the  young  man  was  promptly- 
acquitted,  though  it  is  certain  that  to  this  day  there  are  per- 
sons who  believe  it  very  doubtful  whether  the  unfortunate 
deceased  was  not  the  victim  of  a  foolish  and  fanciful  experi- 
vient  on  the  part  of  a  reckless  and  inconsiderate  young  man, 
belonging,  youthful  as  he  was,  to  that  class  of  human  bipeds 
described  in  Holy  Writ  as  monsters  "  scattering  arrows,  fire- 
brands and  death,"  and  then  "  crying  out  'am  I  not  in  sport?"* 

During  many  years  subsequent  to  this  trial,  it  was  my  for- 
tune to  be  so  located  as  to  get  tidings  of  many  similar  achieve- 
ments on  the  part  of  Mr.  Grundy,  who,  as  is  recollected  by 
many  yet  surviving,  was  not  only  extensively  concerned,  for 
a  long  period  of  time,  in  criminal  practice  in  the  State  of 
Tennessee,  but  was  repeatedly  called  to  the  courts  of  adjoin- 
ing states,  to  render  his  aid  as  an  advocate  in  cases  of  the 
gravest  import,  where  parties  felt  themselves  able  to  pay  re- 
munerative fees  to  counsel  resident  in  distant  lotalities.  I 
have  lived  for  the  seventeen  years  last  past,  in  the  midst  of 
those  to  whom  Mr.  Grundy  was  necessarily  well  known, 
as  a  neighbor  and  fellow  citizen,  and  who  also  enjoyed 
numerous  opportunities  of  listening  to  him,  alike  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  matters  connected  with  his  own  profession,  as 
when  addressing  large  multitudes  upon  political  questions 
deeply  involving  the  welfare  and  honor  of  the  whole  Re- 
public. I  do  not  therefore  feel  it  to  be  at  all  presumptuous 
in  me  frankly  to  state  here  the  conclusions  to  which  my 
mind  has  attained  concerning  one  with  whom  my  own  per- 
sonal acquaintance  was  unfortunately  quite  superficial. 

Felix  Grundy  was  a  native  of  Virginia;  but  spent  the 
years  of  his  early  manhood  chiefly  in  the  State  of  Kentucky. 
To  have  achieved  distinction  at  the  bar  in  Kentucky  at  that 
period  of  her  history,  when  such  men  as  Clay  and  Rowan, 
Harden  and  the  Wicklififs,  Bledsoe,  Barry,  and  many  other 
advocates  of  almost  equal  ability,  had  to  be  encountered  as 
competitors,  implies  the  possession  of  powers  not  ordinarily 


«56     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

displayed  by  the  seekers  of  forensic  fame.  To  have  honor- 
ably represented  an  intelligent  and  patriotic  constituency  in 
Congress,  during  the  most  stormy  and  troublesome  period  of 
Mr.  Madison's  administration,  and  to  have  gained  such  de- 
•cided  prominence  in  the  councils  of  the  Republic  before  he 
had  yet  reached  his  intellectual  meridian,  as  to  have  been 
singled  out  by  the  champions  of  faction  as  a  fit  subject  of 
malignant  reprehension  and  opprobrium,  must  be  regarded  as 
•a  distinction  far  more  to  be  coveted  than  to  be  deplored.  Upon 
Mr.  Grundy's  political  career  in  Tennessee,  I  do  not  feel  called 
upon  at  the  present  to  pass.  There  was  doubtless  much  in  it 
to  be  warmly  commended,  and  much  in  it  perhaps  also  which, 
in  the  light  of  subsequent  experience,  very  many  of  his 
warmest  admirers  could  not  conscientiously  approve.  As 
a  jurist,  he  has  not  been  regarded  as  having  been  very 
deeply  and  extensively  informed ;  nor  did  he  ever  manifest 
an  ambition  for  the  highest  celebrity  in  this  respect.  In 
scholastic  attainments  no  one  has  thought  of  claiming  for 
him  a  very  high  rank.  His  general  reading  was  very  exten- 
sive, and  his  knowledge  of  the  affairs  of  the  world  and  of  the 
human  heart,  was  such  as  has  been  seldom  surpassed.  His 
person  was  impressive  and  commanding;  his  face  was  radiant 
with  the  mingled  beams  of  genius  and  benevolence;  his  voice 
was  naturally  of  great  strength  and  sweetness,  and  it  had 
been  so  modulated  by  judicious  discipline,  as  to  adapt  its 
tones  most  happily  to  the  expression  of  all  the  emotions 
of  which  the  human  soul  is  susceptible.  His  gesticulation 
was  never  profuse,  but  always  apposite  and  graceful.  When 
addressing  either  court  or  jury,  his  manner  was  composed 
and  full  of  dignity,  unmixed  with  either  arrogance  or  affecta- 
tion. His  countenance  was  habitually  serene  and  benignant. 
He  never  indulged  in  coarse  and  unseemly  denunciation ;  in 
buffoonery  or  low  ridicule;  or  in  boisterous  and  vehement 
declamation.  To  everything  like  rant  or  rhapsody  he  was 
altogether  averse  ;  nor  was  he  by  any  means  given  to  pedantic 
pomposity,  or  inclined  to  the  making  of  elaborate  efforts  to 
pass  himself  off  upon  his  audience  as  a  man  of  superhuman 
•wisdom  and  of  an  amount  of  learning  beyond  all  that  the 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      157" 

sages  of  either  ancient  or  modem  times  could  justly  boast- 
Never  was  Mr.  Grundy  known  to  indulge  in  metaphysical 
subtlety,  or  to  seek  the  applause  of  the  superficial  and  uncul- 
tured by  forced  and  extravagant  figures  of  speech,  by  exagger- 
ated appeals  to  the  passions,  by  wire-drawn  distinctions  hav-  * 
ing  no  foundation  in  reason  and  experience,  or  by  inappro- 
priate and  unreasonable  quotations  from  poets  or  rhapsodists 
notoriously  remarkable  only  for  glittering  but  meaningless 
generalities,  for  absurd  and  puerile  conceits,  or  for  turgid  and. 
empty  verbiage  without  the  least  claim  to  sense,  to  signifi- 
cancy,  or  to  veritable  ornament.  For  points  of  special  plead- 
ing he  had  not  the  smallest  relish,  and  the  argument  of  de- 
murrers, either  general  or  special,  he  was  always  glad  to  de- 
volve upon  associate  counsel.  He  is  reported  by  those  who 
have  heard  him  most  frequently,  to  have  entered  upon  the 
discussion  of  matters,  however  important  they  might  be,  with. 
no  appearance  of  previous  preparation,  though  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  when  time  and  circumstances  allowed  thereof,, 
he  did  not  fail  to  perform  his  duty  in  this  respect.  Indeed  I 
have  reason  to  believe  that,  though  this  renowned  advocate 
knew,  as  well  as  William  Pinckney  or  any  one  else,  how  to 
put  in  practice  the  ars  celare  artcm ;  yet  that  he  had  in  his 
time  devoted  far  more  attention  than  the  majority  of  our  modern 
orators  are  accustomed  to  do,  to  that  noble  art  rhetorical  which 
such  men  as  Demosthenes  and  Cicero,  Chatham  and  Mira- 
beau,  Choate  and  Everett  are  known  to  have  thoroughly  mas- 
tered. Five  fundamental  rules  I  am  confident  he  never  failed 
to  observe :  i.  To  study  and  understand  beforehand,  per- 
fectly, the  matters,  whether  of  fact  or  law,  which  he  was 
called  to  discuss :  2.  To  arrange  all  these  matters  in  an  or- 
derly manner  in  the  repositories  of  his  own  mind :  3.  To 
impart  such  ornament  to  the  whole  mass  thereof,  or  to  de- 
tached parts,  as  he  might  judge  most  tasteful  and  impressive: 
4.  To  store  all  these  in  his  memory,  so  as  to  be  able  to  bring 
them  into  display  with  readiness  and  ease:  and  5.  To  pre-de- 
termine  everything  material  connected  with  what  we  moderns 
call  delivery,  and  what  the  ancients  called  action,  embracing, 
of  course,  the  expression  of  the  countenance,  the  movements  of 


158      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST, 

the  body  and  its  several  members,  and  all  the  different  inton- 
ations of  which  the  human  voice  is  susceptible. 

I  have  been  told  that  Mr.  Grundy  was  at  times,  when  the 
•occasion  seemed  to  justify  such  an  experiment,  exquisitely 
humorous — not  always  refraining  from  the  exercise  of  a  species 
•of  innoxious  and  inoffensive  mimicry  ;  and  by  such  means  he  is 
reported  to  have  more  than,  once  convulsed  large  crowds  with 
irrepressible  merriment.  I  am  disposied  to  think  though  that 
the  display  of  his  powers  in  this  respect  must  have  been  con- 
fined to  occasions  of  a  strictly  political  character  ;  and  I  hold 
it  to  be  certain  that  his  own  good  taste  would  scarcely  have 
permitted  him  to  indulge  his  admitted  comic  vein  when  hand- 
ling topics  of.  a  deeply  tragical  import.  I  have  heard  not  a 
little  said  concerning  a  singularly  facetious  speech  made  by 
Mr.  Grundy  in  the  presidential  campaign  of  1840,  at  the  town 
■of  Columbia,  when  he  is  reported  to  have  rung  the  changes 
upon  hard-cider,  log-cabins,  coon-skins,  Ogleism,  silver  spoons, 
•  &c.  &c.,  in  a  manner  that  produced  almost  inextinguishable 
laughter  among  the  gravest  and  most  devoted  supporters  of 
Harrison  and  Tyler. 

An  anecdote  has  been  long  in  circulation  which  may  be 
perhaps  not  inappropriately  related.  During  this  same  cam- 
paign of  1840  the  presidential  contest  was  specially  enlivened 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Nashville  by  the  presence  of  many 
distinguished  orators,  and  among  them  Mr.  Clay.  The  alleged 
mal-administration  of  the  preceding  twelve  years,  during 
which  the  Democrats  had  been  in  power,  was  expected  to 
be  exposed,  as  it  indeed  was,  in  the  most  impressive  and 
•effective  manner.  The  great  leader  of  the  Whig  party  was 
himself  decidedly  in  the  prosecuting  vein,  and  showed  powers 
■of  accusatory  eloquence  little  inferior  to  those  displayed  by 
Cicero  in  his  speeches  against  Verres,  or  Burke  in  his  terrible 
arraignment  of  Warren  Hastings.  Mr.  Clay,  on  reaching 
Nashville,  is  reported  to  have  enquired  eagerly  for  his  old 
friend  Grundy.  On  being  told  that  he  had  left  home  to  at- 
tend a  large  Democratic  meeting  in  a  distant  part  of  the 
country,  "  Oh,"  the  facetious  chief  of  Ashland  exclaimed,  "  I 
•am  not  at  all  surprised  to  hear  that  mine  ancient  friend  is  still 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      1 59 

engaged  in  his  accustomed  occupation  oi  defetiding  criminals." 
When  Mr.  Grundy  was  at  the  very  acme  of  his  fame  as  an 
orator,  a  member  of  the  Nashville  bar  was  slowly  and  toil- 
somely climbing  his  way  to  eminence  in  a  special  department 
of  the  legal  profession,  for  complete  success  in  which  neither 
scholastic  culture,  nor  general  literar}'  attainments,  nor  the 
most  varied  and  extensive  knowledge  of  law  as  a  science,  nor 
a  brilliant  and  graceful  elocution,  constitutes  the  stepping- 
stone  to  fame  and  emolument.  Jenkin  Whiteside  has  come 
down  to  the  men  of  this  generation  exclusively  as  a  great 
land-laivyer.  No  one  was  more  familiar  than  he  was  with  all 
that  Coke  and  Blackstone,  and  the  other  English  writers,  have 
said  in  their  labored  and  profoundly  reasoned^  treatises  upon 
the  law  of  real  property.  No  man  had  mastered  more  fully 
than  himself  the  principles  involved  in  the  doctrine  of  Execu- 
tory Devises  and  Contingent  Remainders.  No  lawyer  of  his 
time  could  talk  more  learnedly  and  luminously  upon  the 
celebrated  ride  in  Shelley's  case ;  and  he  manifested  a  steady 
energy  and  a  masterly  dexterity  in  the  management  of  all  the 
sharp  points  and  subtle  devices  that  appertain  to  the  trial 
of  actions  of  ejectment;  which  things  gave  him  many  ad- 
vantages over  a  more  sluggish  and  less  wily  adversary.  No 
man  could  be  more  conversant  than  was  Jenkin  Whiteside 
with  the  whole  history  of  land  titles  in  Tennessee,  as  well 
as  with  the  operations  of  the  land  offices  both  in  that 
state  and  North  Carolina;  a  species  of  knowledge  quite  in- 
dispensable to  success  in  the  arduous  but  profitable  vocation 
in  which  he  had  enlisted,  and  upon  which  his  attention  had 
been  concentrated  in  a  manner  rarely  exemplified.  He 
was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  vigorous  understanding ;  of 
wonderful  sagacity  and  acuteness ;  devoted  much  to  money 
making,  and  especially  delighting  in  what  was  known  as 
speculation  in  uncultivated  lands,  of  which  he  had,  in  one 
way  or  another,  at  different  times,  accumulated  large  bodies, 
the  titles  to  which  were  not  rarely  involved  in  troublesome 
and  expensive  litigation.  He  was  of  a  rough  and  unimpos- 
ing  exterior ;  of  awkward  and  ungainly  manners ;  and  had 
no  relish  whatever  for  those  elegant   and   refined  pursuit** 


l6o     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

which  are  understood  to  distinguish  polished  and  aristocratic 
communities;  but  he  is  admitted  by  all  who  knew  him,  to 
have  been  civil  and  unobtrusive  in  his  general  demeanor ;  not 
deficient  in  public  spirit ;  and  of  a  coarse  and  unpretending 
cordiality  which  made  him  many  friends  and  no  enemies. 

It  is  not  perhaps  generally  known  that  the  celebrated 
Thomas  H.  Benton  was  at  one  time  a  member  of  the  Tennes- 
see bar.  Terminating  his  educational  exercises  at  a  college 
in  North  Carolina,  he  migrated  to  Middle  Tennessee,  and  be- 
came the  teacher  of  a  small  school  upon  Duck  river,  not 
many  miles  distant  from  the  present  beautiful  town  of  Frank- 
lin, in  which  latter  place  he  subsequently  commenced  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession.  The  little  brick  tenement,  which  he  first 
occupied  as  an  office,  is  yet  in  a  state  of  good  preservation, 
and  is  often-times  pointed  out  by  the  hospitable  residents  of 
Franklin  to  the  passing  traveller.  Mr.  Benton  from  the  first 
was  much  fonder  of  political  pursuits  than  of  the  study  of 
law-books ;  and  greatly  preferred  the  making  of  stump 
speeches  to  the  argument  of  legal  causes.  He  never  enjoyed 
a  large  practice  as  a  lawyer,  and  tradition  has  not  supplied  us 
with  any  precise  information  touching  his  appearance  in 
forensic  contests.  That  Mr.  Benton  possessed  intellectual 
powers  which  might,  with  proper  culture  and  application, 
have  ultimately  secured  him  no  inconsiderable  rank  as  a 
jurist,  no  one  at  all  acquainted  with  the  public  scenes  in  which 
he  afterwards  participated,  would  be  inclined  to  doubt.  With- 
out being  what  is  called  a  man  of  genius,  he  certainly  pos- 
sessed intellectual  faculties  far  above  mediocrity.  He  was 
ever  a  diligent  reader  of  books,  and  more  than  ordinarily  am- 
bitious of  fame  and  influence.  His  reading  though  was  al- 
ways of  a  miscellaneous  character,  and  occasionally  such  as 
was  calculated  rather  to  cramp  and  confuse  his  conceptive 
organs,  than  to  animate  and  invigorate  them.  His  scholar- 
ship was  never  deep  and  thorough  ;  his  mind  was  lacking  in 
genuine  elastic  vigor ;  of  imagination  he  was  wholly  devoid, 
and  of  delicate  and  refined  comic  humor  he  never  seemed  to 
have  formed  even  the  most  imperfect  idea.  No  man  was  ever 
more  industrious,  more  persevering,  or  more  fertile  in  expe- 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      l6l 

clients  than  Mr.  Benton.  In  dialogue,  when  he  chose  to  un- 
bend himself,  he  was  not  a  little  instructive.  His  topics  of 
conversation,  at  least  in  the  evening  of  life,  were  exceedingly 
limited  in  number,  not  always  of  an  attractive  character,  and 
not  uniformly  pleasing  to  persons  of  delicacy  and  refinement 
or  to  individuals  of  a  placid  and  kindly  temper,  to  whom  the 
language  of  boisterous  denunciation,  or  of  sneeiful  innuendo, 
can  never  be  otherwise  than  disagreeable,  if  not  offensive.  No 
amount  of  rhetorical  training  could  ever  have  enabled  Mr. 
Benton  to  cope  in  lively  and  splendid  forensic  eloquence  with 
such  persons  as  Henry  Clay  or  Felix  Grundy ;  in  mere  legal 
argumentation  he  could  not  hope,  however  favored  by  cir- 
cumstances, to  rival  the  condensed  vigor  of  a  Marshall  or  a 
Pinckney.  The  ready  and  rapid  flow  of  choice  and  appropri- 
ate words,  and  of  earnest,  clear,  and  forcible  logic,  sometimes 
bordering  upon  metaphysical  subtlety,  and  occasionally  em- 
bellished and  adorned  with  sublime  generalities,  to  which  Mr. 
Calhoun  was  indebted  for  so  large  a  portion  of  his  fame  and 
influence,  seemed  ever  to  rouse  in  Mr.  Benton  a  feeling 
allied  to  astonishment,  not  unmixed  with  an  emulation  nearly 
akin  to  resentment,  and  a  painful  restlessness  apparently  aris- 
ing, in  some  degree,  from  the  mortifying  sense  of  intellectual 
inferiority,  and  the  despair  which  he  could  not  but  feel  of 
ever  being  able  himself  to  ascend  to  those  empyrean  heights  of 
grand  and  lofty  thought  where  the  great  South  Carolinian 
seemed  to  be  as  much  at  home  as  if  he  had  been  traversing  the 
level  and  beautiful  fields  of  his  own  loved  plantation  in  the  time- 
honored  Palmetto  state.  Mr.  Benton's  voice  was  to  the  last 
most  harsh  and  untunable,  his  gesticulation  was  clumsy  and 
ungraceful ;  he  delighted  in  the  delivery  of  long  and  tedious 
set  discourses — always  over-crammed  with  matter  not  al- 
ways perfectly  germane  to  the  subject  under  consideration  ; 
and  it  is  not  at  all  unjust  to  him  to  say  that  he  w<is  far  more 
plenteously  endowed  with  the  dictatorial  spirit  than  with  the 
gentle  graces  of  persuasion,  and  that  he  was  much  less  ambi- 
tious of  conciliating  opposition,  than  of  crushing  out  antago- 
nism by  untempered  and  overbearing  force.  Let  no  one  im- 
agine though  that  Mr.  Benton  was  as  defective  as  a  writer,  as 


l62  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST 

he  was  infelicitous  as  a  speaker.  When  he  chose  to  do  so, 
he  could  express  himself  on  paper  with  a  clearness  and  pre- 
cision not  often  equalled ;  he  had  command  of  a  simple,  ner- 
vous, and  idiomatic  English  style  which  few  of  his  own 
generation  could  boast;  and  there  is  one  specimen  of  his 
elaborate  composition  which  no  man  of  just  taste  can  peruse 
without  unmixed  gratification.  I  allude  now  to  the  eulogy- 
delivered,  or  rather  read  by  him  in  the  national  Senate  upon 
his  colleague,  Dr.  Lynn;  which  I  have  read  more  than  once 
and  always  wiih  renewed  and  increased  admiration.  Mr. 
Fox's  celebrated  eulogy  upon  his  fiiend  and  compatriot — 
that  Duke  of  Bedford,  who,  whilst  living,  was  so  unfortunate 
as  to  be  so  terribly  stigmatized  and  derided  by  Mr.  Burke — I 
confess  seems  to  me  to  be  decidedly  inferior  in  all  essential 
respects  to  the  speech  of  Mr.  Benton  to  which  I  have  referred  ; 
and,  had  he  always  written  and  spoken  so  happily,  he  would 
have  attained  a  far  higher  rank  in  the  world's  estimation,  than 
can  be  now  accorded  to  him. 

For  a  year  or  two,  during  Mr.  Benton's  residence  in  Ten- 
nessee, he  was  connected  in  the  practice  of  law  with  a  gentle- 
man who  afterwards  rose  to  considerable  prominence,  and 
who  is  understood  to  have  been  more  than  ordinarily  success- 
ful in  regard  to  what  so  many  attorneys  recognize  as  the 
prime  object  of  professional  exertion — the  acquisition  of  a 
fortune.  I  have  now  allusion  to  the  late  O.  B.  Hayes,  who 
became  a  resident  of  Nashville  in  the  year  1808,  having  pre- 
viously studied  hiw  in  the  City  of  Baltimore.  Mr.  Hayes  was 
a  native  of  Massachusetts,  had  there  received  a  liberal  educa- 
tion, and  in  after  life,  is  said  to  have  always  paid  more  or  less 
attention  to  classic  literature  and  to  such  other  studies  as 
were  best  calculated  to  improve  his  taste  and  fit  him  for  the 
duties  of  an  advocate.  Opinion  has  been  much  divided  as  to 
his  claims  to  oratorical  excellence.  By  some  he  was  very 
highly  admired,  and  I  have  heard  one  or  two  of  his  efforts — 
especially  in  the  defence  of  persons  charged  with  crime — very 
highly  lauded.  All  admitted  his  facility  of  speech,  his  ex- 
tensive and  accurate  knowledge  of  law,  and  his  abundant  zeal 
and  industry.     A  few  have  thought  his  manner  as  a  speaker 


BENXH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  1 63 

to  have  been  somewhat  marked  with  a  stiffness  and  formality, 
bordering  on  affectation.  He  appeared  often  in  the  argument 
of  land  causes,  and  the  briefs  filed  by  him  will  be  found  al- 
ways to  have  been  skilfully  framed  and  full  to  exuberance  in 
the  citation  of  adjudicated  cases.  Towards  the  close  of  a 
somewhat  bustling  career,  Mr.  Hayes  became  a  minister  of 
the  Gospel,  but  is  not  understood  to  have  acquired  in  this  new 
calling  a  rank  altogether  equal  to  that  which  he  had  previ- 
ously enjoyed  at  the  bar. 

Sam.  Houston  too  was  once  a  seeker  of  forensic  fame  in 
Tennessee.  Bom  in  Rockbridge  county,  Virginia,  reared  to 
manhood  partly  in  East  Tennessee,  he  joined,  when  he  had 
scarcely  reached  the  age  of  maturity,  the  noble  volunteer 
army  led  by  General  Jackson  against  the  hostile  Indians  then 
resident  in  what  is  now  called  the  State  of  Alabama,  and  dis- 
played much  valor  in  this  famous  campaign — especially  at 
the  battle  of  the  Horseshoe,  where  he  received  a  painful  and 
dangerous  wound,  from  which  he  is  said  never  afterwards  to 
have  recovered.  At  the  close  of  the  war  of  i8 12-13,  he  read 
law  and  located  in  Middle  Tennessee.  The  house  which  he 
for  several  years  occupied  in  the  town  of  Lebanon,  was  once 
pointed  out  to  me.  General  Houston  was  never  what  is 
called  a  profound  jurist,  having  very  early  been  tempted  to 
abandon  his  professional  studies  by  the  prospect  held  out  to 
him  of  occupying  a  seat  in  Congress.  In  this  body  he  served 
-several  years,  but  delivered  no  speeches  fitted  to  give  him 
permanent  reputation  either  as  an  orator  or  statesman.  Mr. 
Webster,  one  day,  when  General  Houston  was  delivering  a 
speech  in  the  national  Senate,  upon  a  question  of  no  little 
moment,  and  in  a  style  and  manner  very  like  some  of  the 
histrionic  displays  which  we  witness  at  theatres,  smilingly 
said  to  nie,  that  his  friend  Houston,  when  they  were  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  had  been  a  regular  attendant  upon 
dramatic  performances  in  Washington,  and  had  labored  to 
form  himself  as  a  parliamentary  debater  upon  the  model  of 
some  celebrated  actor  then  in  vogue — I  think  either  Forrest, 
or  the  elder  Booth.  This  was  doubtless  a  great  mistake  on  his 
part,  and  assuredly  operated  as  a  serious  obstruction  to  his 


164  BENCH   AND   BAR   OF  SOUTH   AND   SOUTHWEST. 

success  as  a  political  speaker.  His  subsequent  romantic 
career  is  well  known  to  the  public,  and  need  therefore  not  be 
here  dwelt  upon.  He  was  doubtless  a  man  of  considerable 
ability,  of  much  amiability  in  private  life,  and  an  unswerving 
devotee  and  friend  of  our  National  Union.  The  day  must 
yet  come  when  that  self-sacrificing  zeal  which  he  displayed  in 
the  closing  days  of  his  long  and  brilliant  public  career,  will 
be  duly  appreciated  by  his  countrymen  everywhere. 

It  was  my  fortune  many  years  since,  whilst  he  was  running 
quite  a  brilliant  Congressional  career,  to  form  a  very  agreeable 
acquaintance  with  a  gentleman  who  though  only  nominally  a 
lawj'er  in  Tennessee,  I  am  not  willing  to  pass  without  a  brief 
notice.  Abram  P.  Maury  was  a  member  of  a  well-known 
and  highly  honored  Huguenot  family  who  v/ere  driven  from 
their  native  land  by  cruel  religious  persecution,  and  who 
located  in  Virginia.  The  subject  of  this  notice  was  born 
in  Tennessee.  He  was  educated  at  West  Point ;  evinced  very 
early  and  decided  fondness  for  literary  and  scientific  pur- 
suits, and  gained  much  reputation  as  a  contributor  to  several 
extensively  circulated  periodicals.  He  settled  at  the  City  of 
St.  Louis  in  1820,  and  if  I  am  correctly  informed,  participated 
in  the  establishment  of  the  St.  Louis  Republican,  now  a  news- 
paper of  such  commanding  influence.  Disposing  of  his  in- 
terest therein,  he  returned  to  Tennessee,  and  in  connection 
with  others,  established  the  Nashville  Republican,  which 
afterwards  became  the  Republican  Banner.  This  last  well- 
known  journal  has  now  become  merged  in  the  Amei'ican, 
Colonel  Maury  was  a  gentleman  of  the  most  polished  and  win- 
ning manners,  of  most  unexceptionable  morals,  and  of  tried 
and  tested  patriotism.  Voluntarily  retiring  from  public  life> 
his  last  days  were  spent  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  sweets  of 
domestic  and  social  intercourse  and  in  pursuing  those  studies 
which  most  conduce  to  intellectual  culture  and  practical  use- 
fulness. He  died  in  his  forty-eighth  year,  and  left  behind  him 
numerous  friends  and  admirers  who  yet  hold  him  in  respect- 
ful and  kindly  remembrance. 

In  the  month  of  November  1829, 1  was  journeying,  in  quite 
a  leisurely  manner,  through  that  portion  of  the  State  of  Ten- 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      165 

nessee  then  known  as  the  western  district.  Reaching  one 
evening  tlie  little  town  of  Savannah,  I  sought  entertainment  for 
the  night  at  what  seemed  to  be  the"  principal  hotel  of  the 
place.  Here  I  found  a  goodly  number  of  attorneys,  some  of 
whom  had  then  acquired  much  reputation  at  the  bar  and 
others  were  hopefully  toiling  for  the  rewards  of  professional 
industry.  A  circuit  court  was  being  held  in  the  town,  in  which 
Judge  Turley  was  presiding.  With  this  gentleman,  whom  I 
had  never  before  seen,  I  was  very  much  struck  at  first  sight, 
and  on  hearing  him  in  free  conversation  with  some  of  the 
lawyers  in  attendance,  in  his  own  room,  I  became  ever>' 
moment  more  and  more  delighted  with  the  extreme  benignity 
of  his  aspect,  his  overflowing  cordiality,  his  sound  and  in- 
structive views  of  men  and  of  books,  and  his  felicitous  style 
of  expressing  himself  upon  all  the  topics  which  arose  for  dis- 
cussion. He  was  then  apparently  thirty  years  of  age.  I 
suppose  him  to  have  been  about  five  feet  ten  inches  in  height, 
of  a  well  proportioned  figure,  and  he  was  exceedingly  easy 
and  graceful  in  all  his  movements.  He  might  even  have  been 
called  a  handsome  man,  and  he  was  on  this  occasion  clad  in 
a  simple  suit  of  black,  which  fitted  him  admirably  and  was 
wholly  unstained  with  use.  With  the  members  of  the  bar  he 
seemed  to  be  a  great  favorite,  all  of  whom  spoke  of  him  as 
decidedly  the  most  rising  man  in  the  state.  I  was  not  at  all 
surprised  to  hear  afterwards  of  his  elevation  to  the  bench  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  and,  in  still  later  years,  to  behold  in  the 
volumes  of  reported  decisions  which  made  their  appearance 
during  his  short  but  brilliant  judicial  career,  evidences  of 
learning  and  ability  such  as  have  placed  him  very  high  indeed 
upon  the  roll  of  the  illustrious  worthies  who  have  at  different 
times  taken  part  in  the  duty  of  meting  out  exact  and  impartial 
justice  to  all  the  various  classes  of  their  fellow  citizens.  The 
opinions  of  Judge  Turley  as  recorded  and  promulgated  evince 
an  amount  of  legal  learning  which  could  not  well  be  over- 
estimated. He  seems  uniformly  to  have  expressed  himself 
in  the  most  perspicuous  and  polished  language,  and  he  poured 
forth  such  a  stream  of  continuous  and  well-compacted  logic 
as  could    not  leave    the   smallest    doubt    upon    the    minds 


l66     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

of  Others  either  as  to  the  depth  and  earnestness  of  his  own 
convictions,  or  the  absolute  correctness  of  the  conclusions  to 
which  he  gave  such  weighty  and  eloquent  enunciation.  Those 
who  have  had  most  intercourse  with  the  members  of  the  bar 
of  Tennessee,  in  the  various  sections  of  the  state,  will  agree 
with  me  in  asserting  that  among  those  who  had  the  gratifica- 
tion of  seeing  Judge  Turley  on  the  bench,  and  of  hearing  him 
when  delivering  opinions  in  cases  of  special  magnitude  and 
difficufty,  there  is  a  universal  conviction  existing  that  a  greater 
judicial  name  than  his  has  never  yet  become  associated  with 
the  administration  of  justice  in  this  seciion  of  the  Union.  If 
there  be  those  who  have  the  least  doubt  as  to  this  matter,  I 
would  ask  them  to  read  with  attention  the  whole  history  of 
the  deeply  interesting  case  of  Montgomery  v.  Hobson,  re- 
ported in  the  tenth  volume  of  Yerger's  Reports,  and  sure  I 
am  that  they  will  doubt  no  longer. 

There  are  not  a  few  lawyers  in  the  state  of  Tennessee  who 
are  inclined  to  recognize  the  period  during  which  Judges 
Greene,  Turley  and  Reese  conducted  so  ably  and  satisfac- 
torily the  business  of  the  Supreme  Court  as  a  sort  of  Augus- 
tan era  in  the  judicial  annals  of  this  far-famed  common- 
wealth. Whether  this  view  of  the  subject  is  justified  by 
facts  I  shall  not  presume  to  decide.  Of  Judge  Turley  I  have 
already  spoken.  With  Judge  Reese  I  had  not  the  good  for- 
tune to  have  the  least  personal  acquaintance ;  but  I  have 
universally  heard  him  spoken  of  as  a  man  of  the  greatest  up- 
rightness, of  the  most  ample  legal  attainments,  and  of  scho- 
lastic and  literary  culture  of  a  very  high  grade.  The  style  in 
which  his  opinions  are  drawn  up  is  eminently  creditable  to 
him ;  the  reasonings  embodied  therein  are  in  full  keeping 
with  the  language  in  which  they  are  presented  by  him ;  and 
I  have  understood  that  they  lost  nothing  either  of  force  or 
impressiveness  from  the  manner  in  which  they  were  enun- 
ciated from  the  bench  by  their  distinguished  author. 

I  knew  Judge  Green  most  intimately,  and  had  with  him 
some  very  peculiar  and  interesting  relations.  He  was  truly 
a  man  eminently  entitled  to  be  loved  and  venerated.  I  had 
become  somewhat  familiar  with  his  claims  to  respect  as  a 


BENCH  Ai\D  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.  167 

judicial  functionary,  from  a  diligent  perusal  of  his  published 
opinions,  some  time  anterior  to  my  meeting  him  personally. 
It  was  during  a  deeply  interesting  criminal  trial  in  the  year 
i860  that  I  first  beheld  this  gentleman.  He  appeared  as  a 
witness  in  behalf  of  a  young  man  who  had  been  unfortunate 
enough  to  slay  one  of  his  associates  of  the  Lebanon  Univer- 
sity, and  in  whose  defense  I  had  been  invited  to  participate. 
The  testimony  of  Judge  Green  was  of  a  most  important 
character,  and  he  was  retained  under  examination  some 
twenty  or  thirty  minutes.  His  demeanor  on  this  occasion 
was  most  solemn  and  impressive,  and  he  evinced 
throughout  a  tender  sympathy  in  behalf  of  the  ac- 
cused, and  a  deep  and  unmistakable  solicitude  for  his  fate. 
I  did  not  see  this  venerable  personage  again  until  our  re- 
spective friends  had  thrown  us  into  competition  for  a  seat  in 
the  Confederate  Congress,  the  cares  and  responsibilities  at- 
tendant upon  a  seat  in  which  body  I  have  a  thousand  times 
since  wished  had  devolved  upon  him  instead  of  on  myself.  For 
several  weeks  the  contest  between  us  proceeded,  and  ques- 
tions were  discussed  by  us,  as  well  as  by  a  third  candidate, 
of  a  nature  not  a  little  exciting  to  the  popular  mind.  But 
never  did  he  utter  one  unkind  or  disrespectful  word  towards 
myself  or  towards  others.  His  manner  was  uniformly  of  an 
amiable  and  even  of  a  patriarchal  character,  and  when  we 
parted  at  the  close  of  the  canvass  we  were  even  better  friends 
than  we  were  at  the  commencement  thereof.  I  never  saw 
him  afterwards,  and  happily  he  did  not  live  to  feel  the  suffer- 
ings and  encounter  the  troubles  which  others  have  been  fated 
to  experience. 

Judge  Green  was  born  in  Virginia  and  was,  when  I  formed 
his  acquaintance,  in  his  seventieth  year.  I  heard  from  his 
own  lips  that  he  was  born  in  the  same  year  with  William  C. 
Rives ;  that  he  knew  him  well  before  his  migration  from  his 
native  state,  and  that  he  was  sworn  in  as  a  lawyer  at  the 
same  court  and  on  the  same  morning  with  Mr.  Rives.  He 
was  a  man  of  most  majestic  stature,  of  a  highly  commanding 
aspect,  and  of  sedate  and  gentlemanly  manners.  The 
state  of  Tennessee  owes  to  him  a  heavy  debt  of  gratitude,  as 


l68      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

well  on  account  of  his  long-continued,  able  and  useful  ser- 
vices upon  the  bench,  as  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  he 
officiated,  for  many  years  after  his  retirement  from  the  per- 
formance of  judicial  duties,  as  one  of  the  professors  at  the 
law  univ^ersity  at  Lebanon,  where  so  many  young  men  of  the 
South  have  received  such  sound  and  judicious  training  for 
the  performance  of  forensic  duties  as  few  institutions  in  the 
country  have  been  known  to  supply. 

Having  incidentally  spoken  of  this  famous  seat  of  judicial 
learning,  I  seize  the  opportunity  of  alluding  to  another  ven- 
erated personage  to  whom  the  Lebanon  Law  University  owes 
much  of  its  celebrity.  Judge  Abram  Caruthers,  the  author 
of  that  admirably  digested  volume  known  as  "  The  History  of 
a  Laiu  Suit,''  has  in  the  preparation  of  this  valuable  work 
done  more  perhaps  to  enable  young  and  inexperienced  attor- 
neys to  master  the  dry  and  perplexing  formalities  of  practice, 
and  to  relieve  their  minds  from  the  embarrassing  technicalities 
which  are  sometimes  so  much  fraught  with  discouragement 
and  solicitude,  than  any  man  of  the  present  generation.  I 
knew  Judge  Caruthers  well,  though  I  never  had  the  advantage 
of  being  present  on  any  occasion  when  he  was  holding  court; 
and  I  had  much  pleasant  and  profitable  intercourse  with  him  du- 
ring the  last  year  of  his  mortal  pilgrimage.  I  saw  him  on  his 
death-bed  in  the  town  of  Marietta,  Georgia,  where  he  was  for 
some  time  sojourning  during  our  mournful  civil  war,  to  the 
sad  and  horrifying  incidents  of  which  I  am  satisfied  his  un- 
timely decease  may  be  safely  attributed.  I  was  one  of  the 
numerous  concourse  of  bereaved  and  saddened  friends  who 
attended  his  remains  to  the  tomb.  I  drew  up  for  publication 
his  obituary  notice,  and  drafted  the  resolutions  adopted  in 
honor  of  him  at  that  period,  by  an  assemblage  of  his  profes- 
sional brethren  of  several  states  of  the  Union ;  and  I  now 
declare  that,  in  my  judgment,  a  purer,  wiser  or  more  patriotic 
man  I  have  never  known ;  that  a  sounder  and  more  highly 
informed  jurist  Tennessee  has  never  produced ;  and  that  a  more 
attentive,  judicious  and  skilful  law-instructor  no  university  on 
either  side  of  the  Atlantic  has  numbered  among  its  professors. 

Among  the  lawyers  of  the  Tennessee  bar  whom  I  have 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      1 69 

already  mentioned  as  having  been  seen  by  me  in  company 
with  Judge  Turley  in  the  town  of  Savannah,  forty-five  years 
ago,  was  the  celebrated  Pleasant  M.  Miller,  He  was  then  far 
advanced  in  life,  but  was  still  actively  concerned  in  the  busi- 
ness of  his  profession.  I  found  him  to  be  a  most  civil  and 
affable  gentleman,  easy  and  unaffected  in  converse,  and  full 
of  lively  sallies  of  good-natured  raillery.  He  seemed  to  be 
very  much  respected  by  his  brother  attorneys,  and  to  receive 
in  his  intercourse  with  them  many  tokens  of  deferential  re- 
gard of  a  most  flattering  character.  Mr.  Miller  was  a  Virgin- 
ian by  birth,  but  had  located  in  East  Tennessee  at  a  very 
early  period,  where  he  very  soon  obtained  high  rank,  both  as 
a  jurist  and  advocate.  It  is  of  this  gentleman  that  Mr.  Parton 
in  his  Life  of  Jackson  relates  substantially  the  following 
rather  ludicrous  anecdote :  Whilst  Patrick  Henry  was  still 
astonishing  all  who  heard  him  speak  by  his  marvellous  powers 
as  an  orator,  it  chanced  that  General  Jackson,  who  was  then 
a  dashing  young  attorney,  took  a  trip  to  one  of  the  neighbor- 
ing counties  of  Virginia,  where  he  had  the  good  fortune  to 
hear  one  of  Mr.  Henry's  most  effective  jury  speeches.  He 
returned  to  his  own  home  full  of  admiration  of  the  "  Forest- 
bom  Demosthenes,"  and  occupied  himself  much  for  several 
days  thereafter  with  the  most  hearty  laudations  of  his  elo- 
•quence.  He  had  done  so  on  one  occasion  when  in  the 
presence  of  Mr.  Miller  and  the  afterwards  well-known  George 
Washington  Campbell,  when  the  latter  is  reported  to  have 
-called  Mr.  Henr>'^'s  abilities  as  a  speaker  somewhat  in  ques- 
tion —  suggesting  very  gravely  that  the  world  was  often- 
times exceedingly  unjust  in  its  estimate  of  men,  and  espec- 
ially of  forensic  personages,  and  that  he  did  not  at  all  doubt 
that  there  were  many  to  be  found  all  over  the  country  not  a 
whit  behind  Mr.  Henry  as  an  orator,  who  had  not  been  yet 
given  credit  for  abilities  of  more  than  an  ordinary  character. 
To  which  Miller  facetiously  responded :  "  Campbell,  I  per- 
fectly agree  with  you,  and  have  not  the  smallest  doubt  that 
if  you  and  I  could  once  manage  to  get  Patrick  Henry  enlisted 
in  opposition  to  us  in  some  suit  in  our  county  court,  we 
would  be  able  to  make  such  havoc  of  his  reputation  as  an 


170      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

advocate  that  no  one  would  ever  again  be  heard  to  chant  his 
praises,  as  everybody  seems  now  to  do."  Words  hke  these, 
uttered  in  a  tone  and  manner  amiably  ironical,  roused  General 
Jackson,  and  brought  forth  from  him  the  terrific  exclamation : 
''Bring  vie  my  pistols!''  On  being  asked  what  he  wanted 
with  his  pistols,  he  replied  :  "  I  wish  to  kill  Miller  at  once  ; 
for  he  has  just  immortalized  himself,  and  it  is  better  he 
should  die  at  once  than  to  live  and  do  aught  to  destroy  the 
glory  he  has  just  acquired."  George  W.  Campbell  was  in 
many  respects  entitled  to  be  kindly  and  respectfully  remem- 
bered. At  different  periods  of  his  long  and  diversified  career 
he  enjoyed  a  large  and  lucrative  practice  as  an  attorney,  and 
succeeded  in  accumulating  a  large  estate.  He  was  for  a  short 
time  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state,  for 
several  terms  a  member  of  the  National  House  of  Represent- 
atives, a  Cabinet  officer  and  a  Minister  to  the  Russian  capital. 
His  amiable  and  accomplished  wife — before  marriage  a  Miss 
Stoddert,  and  daughter  to  a  well-known  member  of  the  Cab- 
inet of  John  Adams — was  a  lady  of  rare  intelligence  and  of 
many  domestic  and  social  virtues.  Both  Mr.  Campbell  and 
his  wife  lived  to  extreme  old  age,  leaving  a  vast  estate  to  be 
enjoyed  by  a  daughter,  one  of  the  most  intellectual  and  pub- 
lic-spirited ladies  of  the  age,  the  early  decease  of  whose  only 
brother  left  her  the  sole  representative  of  a  noble  stock  and 
the  sole  inheritress  of  more  wealth  than  is  at  all  necessary  to 
felicity  or  usefulness.  Lezinka  Campbell  inter-married  when 
yet  very  young,  with  a  gentleman  whom  I  once  knew  well; 
and,  upon  his  decease,  remained  for  many  years  in  a  condi- 
tion of  reserved  and  dignified  widowhood,  devoting  all  her 
attention  to  the  training  and  education  of  her  two  children,  a 
son  and  daughter,  and  visiting  Europe  in  1859,  fo^  the  pur- 
pose alone  of  accomplishing  this  most  sacred  duty  more 
perfectly.  When  she  returned  to  her  native  land,  she  found 
it  convulsed  with  civil  war.  In  this  war  her  son  enlisted  at 
once  on  the  Confederate  side,  served  as  aide-de-camp  to  the 
celebrated  General  Ewell  in  several  campaigns,  and  doing  his 
full  duty  as  a  gallant  soldier.  Now  General  Ewell  was 
cousin-german  to  Mrs.  Brown,  had  been  familiarly  associated 


BEN'CH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      I71 

with  her  in  early  hfe,  and  had  been  her  devoted  admirer. 
Seeking  her  hand  in  wedlock  and  being  disappointed  in  his 
suit,  he  gave  up  all  thought  of  marr>'ing,  and  devoted  himself 
for  a  series  of  years,  with  most  painstaking  fidelity,  to  his 
duties  as  an  officer  in  the  Federal  army,  where  he  succeeded 
in  obtaining  a  high  rank.  The  beginning  of  the  war  found 
him  in  New  Mexico.  Deeply  regretting  the  occurrence  of 
this  unbrotherly  and  wholly  unnecessary  conflict,  as  a  Vir- 
ginian born,  he,  like  General  Lee,  resigned  his  commission  as 
a  Federal  officer,  and  tendered  his  services  to  the  Confeder- 
ate officials.  In  one  of  the  m.ost  terrific  battles  of  the  war, 
fought  only  a  few  miles  from  the  spot  of  his  birth,  one  of 
General  Ewell's  legs  was  carried  away  by  a  cannon-ball,  and 
for  several  weeks  he  lay  in  a  disabled,  helpless  condition. 
Under  these  circumstances  Mrs.  Brown,  who,  during  the  war, 
had  more  than  once  journeyed  to  the  Confederate  camp  on 
a  visit  to  her  son,  most  naturally  claimed  the  privilege  of 
tending  upon  her  suffering  relative  as  his  nurse,  and  to  her 
gentle  and  unremitting  attentions  in  that  capacity,  the  lan- 
guishing hero  was  doubtless  greatly  indebted  for  his  ultimate 
recovery.  I  visited  General  Ewell  often,  whilst  confined  to 
his  bed  in  Richmond,  and  always  found  this  ministering  angel 
watching  over  him  with  sleepless  vigilance,  and  cheering  him 
up  by  hopeful  and  recreative  converse.  One  evening,  when 
I  called  to  see  General  Ewell,  he  mentioned  to  me  that  he 
saw,  on  reading  the  morning  papers,  that  General  Sterling 
Price  was  in  the  city,  and,  stating  that  he  had  long  held  him 
in  the  greatest  admiration,  asked  me  whether  I  thought  that 
he  would  come  to  see  him,  if  invited  to  do  so.  I  answered 
at  once  in  the  affirmative,  and  took  it  upon  myself  to  bring 
this  gallant  and  noble-spirited  man  to  his  bed-side  next  morn- 
ing. This,  of  course,  I  did  not  fail  to  do,  and  well  recollect 
that  we  had  to  walk  through  a  thick  and  blinding  snow-storm 
for  more  than  a  mile  along  the  streets  of  Richmond,  m  order 
to  fulfill  this  interesting  engagement.  Never  shall  I  forget  the 
scene  which  ensued  in  General  Ewell's  sick-room,  or  the  hearty 
interchange  of  affection  and  respect  which  then  occurred. 
No  one  should  now  be  surprised  to  learn  that,  on  General 


1/2      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

Ewell's  restoration  to  health,  the  hope  of  his  young  manhood 
was  at  last  realized,  and  he  became  the  husband  of  the  only- 
woman  he  had  ever  loved. 

For  several  years  after  the  war  had  drawn  to  a  close,  Gen- 
eral Ewell  and  his  wife  lived  in  a  state  of  connubial  bliss 
seldom  realized  on  earth.  They  were  my  neighbors  and  inti- 
mate friends,  whose  society  I  prized  more  highly  than  I  can 
well  express  in  words.  About  three  years  ago  the  General 
was  suddenly  stricken  down  by  a  malignant  fever,  which 
baffled  the  skill  of  all  the  physicians  who  were  called  upon  to 
minister  to  him.  When  he  was  in  a  critical  condition, 
expecting  every  moment  to  breathe  his  last,  his  wife,  who  had 
Ijeen  for  days  nursing  him  most  faithfully,  was  visited  by  the 
same  terrible  malady,  and  only  survived  a  few  hours.  The 
•dying  hero,  on  hearing  of  her  decease,  demanded  a  last  sight  of 
those  beloved  features  which  he  had  so  long  felt  to  be  identi- 
fied with  his  own  being.  Her  yet  life-like  but  inanimate  form, 
dressed  for  the  tomb,  was  borne  to  his  bed-side;  he  gazed 
upon  the  face  of  his  beloved  for  one  single  moment  of  heart- 
convulsing  but  tearless  agony,  and  fell  back  upon  his  pillow 
as  dead  as  the  corpse  upon  which  he  had  been  tenderly  gazing ! 

I  may  be  allowed  here  to  mention  that  the  father  of  Gen- 
eral Ewell  was  once  a  distinguished  resident  physician  of  the 
City  of  Washington,  and  the  author  of  a  well  known  and 
valuable  work  called,  I  believe,  "  Ewell's  Family  Medicine," 
He  was  born  in  the  county  of  Prince  William,  Virginia, 
where  I  have  repeatedly  seen  him  in  the  days  of  my  own  boy- 
Tiood.  He  and  my  father  studied  medicine  together  in  the  old 
and  now  decayed  town  of  Dumfries,  in  the  office  of  Doctor 
George  Graham,  who  died  about  the  year  1814.  I  witnessed 
the  burial  of  Dr.  Graham  in  a  piece  of  beautiful  wood-land — 
part  of  his  own  farm — and  listened  to  the  reading  over  his  re- 
mains of  the  beautiful  funeral  service  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal church,  by  my  father,  for  want  of  the  presence  of  a 
Christian  minister.  His  grave  is  not  more  than  a  mile  or  two 
from  the  famous  spot  where  the  last  battle  of  Bull  Run  was 
fought.  Dr.  Graham  was  the  great  grandfather  of  Mrs. 
Jefferson  Davis,  so  that  when  the  whilom  Confederate  chief 


BENCH  AND  BAH  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      1 73. 

visited  the  field  of  slaughter  on  the  day  after  the  falling  of  so 
many  gallant  men  on  the  field  of  bloody  strife,  he  was  (doubt- 
less without  the  knowledge  of  a  fact  so  interesting)  within  a 
few  minutes  ride  of  the  place  where  had  quietly  slept,  for 
nearly  fifty  years,  the  venerable  progenitor  of  his  own  loved 
children ! 

But  whither  am  I  wandering,  forgetful  of  what  Horace  has 
said  so  pithily  of  the  gabbling  loquacity  of  advanced  years? 
Let  us  say  with  the  great  Moliere,  Rcvenons  a  nos  vioritons! 

There  is  a  gentleman  of  uncommon  worth,  now  resident  in 
Washington  City,  and  holding  a  most  responsible  official 
position,  who  was  for  quite  a  long  period  a  distinguished 
member  of  the  bar  of  Tennessee,  but  whom,  having  closed  his 
professional  career  in  this  part  of  the  world,  I  am  inclined  to 
make  an  exception  to  the  rule  which  I  have  heretofore 
thought  it  best  to  observe,  of  confining  my  description  of  in- 
dividuals to  persons  no  longer  liviyg. 

Return  J.  Meigs  is  a  name  which  is  destined  to  be  favor- 
ably recollected  for  many  generations  yet  to  come.  High 
though  as  are  his  merits  and  qualifications,  I  am  not  certain 
of  being  able  to  delineate  him  more  justly  than  I  have  al- 
ready done,  in  a  newspaper  article  published  a  few  months 
since,  a  portion  of  which  I  will  here  insert : 

"In  the  year  1858  I  was  traveling  on  the  railroad  which 
connects  Nashville  with  Chattanooga,  when  I  was  introduced 
to  a  gentleman  whom  I  had  never  before  seen.  Having  for 
many  years  heard  him  spoken  of  as  a  jurist  of  profound  learn- 
ing, a  ripe  and  accurate  scholar,  a  public-spirited  and  pa- 
triotic man,  and,  withal,  renowned  for  all  the  virtues  which, 
adorn  social  and  domestic  life,  I  could  not  but  regard  it  as 
an  instance  of  personal  good  fortune  thus  to  be  allowed  to 
form  his  acquaintance.  Having  much  curiosity  about  this 
personage,  it  was  but  natural  that  I  should  seek  to  draw  him 
into  familiar  converse.  I  found  him  poHte  and  affable,  but 
he  was  evidently  at  the  time  in  low  spirits,  and  there  was 
something  in  his  tone  and  aspect  which  made  the  impression 
upon  my  mind  that  he  had  recently  been  visited  with  serious 
misfortune  of  some  kind,  the  remembrance  of  which  was 


174       BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

then  sorrowfully  preying  upon  his  sensibilities.  He  left  the 
car  in  which  we  were  riding  at  some  wayside  station,  and  we 
were  once  more  in  motion.  I  learned  on  inquiry  that  this 
gentleman  had,  a  few  days  before,  lost  an  amiable  and  accom- 
plished wife,  whom  he  had  loved  with  a  devotion  well-nigh 
romantic,  and  that  his  many  friends  were  beginning  to  fear 
that  his  former  cheerfulness  and  animation  would  never  more 
return  to  him. 

"  The  individual  to  whom  I  have  been  referring  is  now  as  I 
have  said,  a  resident  of  Washington  City  and  is  the  incumbent 
of  an  office,  the  duties  of  which  all  admit  him  to  be  discharg- 
ing with  singular  fidelity  and  credit.  I  will  now  mention  his 
name;  it  is  Return  J.  Meigs,  a  man  who  at  this  moment  is 
greatly  loved  and  respected  by  all  respectable  and  patriotic 
citizens  of  Tennessee  on  either  side  of  the  Cumberland 
Mountain  range.  He  was  concerned  for  nearly  thirty  years 
in  the  management  of  as  large  a  number  of  difficult  and 
important  causes,  before  the  various  judicial  tribunals  of 
the  state,  as  any  one  individual  that  can  be  mentioned. 
He  is  the  author  of  a  voluminous  digest  of  the  judicial  de- 
cisions of  the  state,  which  I  have  long  regarded  as  by  far  the 
best  arranged  and  most  skilful  book  of  the  kind  which  I  have 
■ever  yet  examined,  and  is  one  of  the  honored  compilers  of 
the  "  Code  of  Tennessee,"  which  will  favorably  bear  com- 
parison with  any  other  municipal  code  which  has  fallen 
under  my  view.  Tennessee  is  more  indebted  to  this  learned 
and  accomplished  person  for  that  choice  collection  of  books, 
to  be  found  in  her  valuable  state  library,  than  to  all  other 
persons  besides,  whether  living  or  dead.  There  are  but  few 
languages  which  have  been  heretofore  spoken  and  written 
among  civilized  men  with  which  Mr.  Meigs  has  not  made 
himself  more  or  less  acquainted.  In  the  Latin  and  Greek 
classics  he  has  been  asserted  to  be  thoroughly  versed,  by  far 
more  competent  judges  than  the  present  writer.  He  has 
given  as  much  attention  to  what  is  known  as  comparative 
philology  as  any  man  I  have  yet  met.  I  verily  believe  that 
there  is  no  useful  branch  of  human  knowledge  that  has 
found  preservation  in  printed  books  which  is  altogether  terra 


BENXH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      1 75 

incognita  to  his  curious  and  scrutinizing  intellect.  He  has 
ever  manifested  a  deep  and  most  generous  interest  in  the 
general  spread  of  education,  as  well  as  in  the  various  pro- 
jects and  experiments  looking  to  reform  and  improvement  in 
the  methods  of  teaching." 

I  often  met  Mr.  Meigs  in  social  intercourse  whilst  he  con- 
tinued to  reside  in  Nashville,  and  now  look  to  the  moments 
then  spent  in  commune  with  this  gifted  person  as  among  the 
most  pleasant  and  instructive  of  my  whole  life.  Our  occa- 
sional encounters  in  the  room  of  our  state  library  (shall  I 
■confess  it?)  on  the  long  and  othenvise  almost  unoccupied 
Sabbath  days,  I  am  quite  confident  that  I  shall  not  cease  to 
remember,  with  both  gratification  and  thankfulness,  so  long 
as  I  shall  myself  be  permitted  to  live. 

Mr.  Meigs  practised  law  for  many  years  in  Athens,  East 
Tennessee,  and  aftenvards  removed  to  Nashville,  where  he 
ran  as  brilliant,  as  useful,  and  as  amiable  and  inoffensive  a 
-career  as  any  man  has  done  of  whom  I  have  any  knowledge. 
Here  he  remained  until  the  terrible  excitements  which  marked 
the  first  year  of  the  late  ever-to-be  lamented  civil  war  in- 
duced him  to  make  sale  of  his  possessions  there  and  remove 
to  some  less  tempestuous  locality.  It  is  indeed  distrcLf'ing 
to  reflect  that  such  an  individual  as  I  am  describing,  should 
have  been  compelled  by  such  causes  as  have  been  specified, 
to  leave  the  home  which  had  become  so  dear  to  him,  and  to 
break  asunder  so  abruptly  all  the  social  ties  of  a  life-time ; 
but  so  it  was  !  Mr.  Meigs  was  a  firm  and  inflexible  Union 
man.  Who  would  not  now  rejoice  to  have  been  equally  faith- 
ful to  the  example  of  our  honored  fathers  ?  He  mortally 
detested  the  absurd  and  country-distracting  dogma  of  Seces- 
sion, and  he  had  but  little  respect  either  for  the  understand- 
ings or  the  hearts  of  those  by  whom  it  was  noisily  and  mis- 
chievously agitated.  He  sometimes  expressed  his  views 
touching  these  matters  in  the  frank  and  manly  language 
which  was  in  keeping  with  his  own  character ;  and  he  occa- 
sionally ventured  to  use  words  of  expostulation  and  warning 
which  thousands  now  deeply  regret  not  to  have  patiently 
and  respectfully  listened  to.     But  never  did  he  descend  to 


1/6      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

the  use  of  coarse  and  scurrilous  epithets,  to  the  employment, 
of  which  he  was  indeed  wholly  unaccustomed.  I  have  al- 
ways thought  that  fully  nine-tenths  of  our  Nashville  popula- 
tion would  have  fought,  if  necessarj^',  in  defence  of  this  ex- 
cellent man's  life  and*  person,  but  there  were,  doubtless,  at 
the  period  referred  to,  a  few  noisy  zealots,  such  as  no  com- 
mercial city  is  ever  altogether  uncursed  with, — persons  hang- 
ing loosely  upon  the  skirts  of  society,  and  ambitious  of  gaining 
a  vulgar  notoriety,  by  the  employing  of  menaces  such  as  they 
had  not  the  least  intention  of  attempting  to  execute.  Cer- 
tainly I  never  suspected  that  Mr.  Meigs  was  in  danger  of 
mob  violence  until  after  the  state  had  lost  forever  as  a  citizen 
one  the  want  of  whose  presence  in  our  midsc  is  not  at  all 
likely  to  be  supplied  for  many  years  to  come,  if  ever.  When 
Mr.  Meigs  left  the  City  of  Nashville  he  left  no  equal  behind 
him  in  general  scholarship,  and  no  superior  in  legal  attain- 
ments. The  only  man  who  could  at  all  risk  comparison  with 
him,  among  those  who  resided  among  us  fifteen  years  ago,  was. 
the  venerable  Francis  B.  Fogg,  who,  now  an  octogenarian,  is  as 
gentle  and  kindly,  as  entertaining  and  instructive  as  he  could 
have  been  when  battling  with  that  race  of  intellectual  giants 
of  a  former  generation  whom  he  has  been  permitted  to  sur- 
vive. No  one  who  knows  Mr.  Fogg  well  would  refuse  to 
join  me  in  saying  of  him,  (what  I  do  verily  believe)  that  he 
has  at  this  time  no  superior  west  of  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains in  deep  legal  research,  in  scholarly  accomplishments, 
and  in  unstained  purity  of  morals.  His  uniformly  calm  and 
philosophic  dignity  of  aspect  and  demeanor,  his  winning 
graciousness  of  temper,  and  his  ever  overflowing  benevolence 
have  justly  rendered  him  an  object  of  general  esteem  and 
veneration.     Serus  in  ccelmn  redeas  ! 

Pope,  referring  to  Lord  Mansfield,  exclaims :  "  How 
sweet  an  Ovid  was  in  Murray  lost!"  Often  is  it  that  men  of 
extraordinary  intellectual  promise  fail  to  attain  fame  of  some 
particular  kind  by  reason  of  having  allowed  themselves  to  be 
withdrawn  from  pursuits  to  which  they  do  not  perhaps  perceive 
their  own  special  adaptation.  Two  members  of  the  bar  lie 
entombed  in  the  neighborhood  of  Nashville,  each  of  whom: 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      1 77 

gave  early  and  impressive  tokens  of  future  forensic  distinc- 
tion ;  but  both  of  whom  having  been  seduced  from  the  study 
of  law  books  by  the  more  attractive  scenes  of  political  life, 
are  scarcely  ever  alluded  to  now  as  members  of  a  profession 
which  they  were  so  well  fitted  to  adorn.  It  is  of  James  K. 
Polk  and  of  John  Bell  that  I  am  now  speaking,  and  to  each 
of  these  eminent  personages  I  shall  pay  somewhat  more  than 
a  passing  notice. 

James  K.  Polk  was  bora  in  North  Carolina,  and  is  said  to 
have  graduated  at  the  principal  college  of  that  state  with 
more  than  customary  honor.  He  became  a  student  of  law 
immediately  thereafter,  and  on  obtaining  license  to  practice, 
located  in  the  beautiful  and  healthful  village  of  Columbia.  He 
was  very  soon  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  industrious  and 
skilful  attorneys  in  the  section  of  Tennessee  where  he  had 
determined  permanently  to  reside.  His  even  and  benignant 
temper,  his  gentle,  unobtrusive,  and  conciliatory  manners, 
and  his  uniformly  moral  and  upright  conduct  soon  surrounded 
him  with  clients  and  ardent  personal  friends  and  admirers. 
His  ability  as  a  lawyer  has  never  been  doubted  ;  but  ere  he 
had  attained  the  high  professional  rank  to  which  he  aspired, 
he  was  persuaded  to  become  a  candidate  for  a  seat  in  the 
Congressional  House  of  Representatives,  to  which  he  was 
elected  almost  without  an  effort. 

At  the  same  period  of  time,  John  Bell  was  engaged  in  the 
legal  profession  also,  in  a  neighboring  town.  He  too  was 
urged,  when  quite  young  and  inexperienced,  to  enter  the 
political  field,  which  he  did  under  very  exciting  circumstances. 
In  his  first  contest  for  a  seat  in  Congress,  he  had  to  encounter 
as  an  opposing  aspirant  the  celebrated  Felix  Grundy.  A 
more  excited  canvass  than  that  just  alluded  to  has  never 
occurred  in  any  State  of  the  Union.  There  are  some  remark- 
able features  about  it,  which  imparted  to  it  at  the  time  that  it 
was  in  progress  peculiar  interest.  Mr.  Bell  was  a  young  man, 
of  yet  unestablished  reputation.  Mr.  Grundy  was  a  man  past 
the  middle  stage  of  life,  and  of  world-wide  fame.  They 
were  both  avowed  friends  and  supporters  of  General  Jackson 
in  the  coming  Presidential  election,  but  Jackson  openly  de- 


178      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

clared  his  preference  for  Mr.  Grundy  over  his  more  youthful 
and  less  experienced  opponent.  Often  did  the  two  candi- 
dates meet  in  discussion,  and  sometimes  words  were  uttered 
by  each  of  them  not  altogether  comporting  with  kindness 
and  courtesy.  Several  of  the  speeches  made  by  Mr.  Bell 
during  this  heated  conflict  are  yet  referred  to  often  by  old 
residents  of  Tennessee  as  masterpieces  in  what  may  be  called 
political  digladintion.  The  success  of  Mr,  Bell,  over  such  a 
competitor  as  Mr.  Grundy,  at  once  gave  him  a  high  national 
attitude.  When  he  reached  Congress  he  soon  found  himself 
in  the  midst  of  a  new  contest.  Mr.  Polk  and  himself  were 
pitted  against  each  other  by  their  respective  friends,  as  can- 
didates for  the  Speakership  of  the  House,  and  a'  bitter  polit- 
ical antagonism  sprang  up  between  them,  which  did  not 
sensibly  abate  for  a  long  series  of  years.  Mr.  Polk  attained 
the  Presidential  station  through  the  election  of  1844.  Mr. 
Bell  was  unsuccessfully  run  for  the  same  high  place  in  1S60. 
Mr.  Polk  served  in  the  office  of  Governor  of  Tennessee  for  a 
single  term ;  Mr.  Bell  officiated  as  a  Senator  of  the  United 
States  for  two  full  terms.  They  are  both  now  dead,  and  the 
questions  upon  which  they  were  arrayed  against  each  other 
are  at  rest,  perhaps  forever.  No  one  now  denies  to  either  of 
these  personages  many  virtues,  and  abilities  of  a  very  high 
order.  They  were  both  men  of  an  eminently  conservative 
turn  of  mind,  and  devoted  friends  of  the  National  Union.  I 
have  not  heard  that  either  of  them  had  ever  made  a  legal 
argument  of  transcendent  vigor  and  eloquence.  Neither  of 
t-hem  is  charged  with  having  spoken,  on  any  occasion,  feebly 
or  unbecomingly.  Mr.  Polk,  as  a  popular  speaker,  has,  per- 
haps, never  had  his  equal  in  Tennessee :  Mr.  Bell  occasionally 
delivered  a  profound  and  statesmanlike  discourse,  which 
would  have  done  credit  to  any  public  man  that  our  country 
has  produced.  One  of  his  political  harangues,  delivered  at 
Vauxhall  Garden,  in  the  city  of  Nashville,  during  the  summer 
of  1836  (if  I  recollect  aright),  made  very  much  such  an 
impression  upon  the  public  mind  at  the  time  as  one  would 
suppose  might  have  been  produced  by  that  grand  address  of 
Edmund  Burke,  to  the  people  of  Bristol,  in  defense  of  his 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      1 79 

<:ourse  in  Parliament  upon  some  of  the  great  questions  agi- 
tated in  his  day.  There  is  a  depth  and  grandeur,  and  a  lofty 
and  fervid  eloquence  displayed  in  certain  portions  of  this 
speech,  which  must  always  awaken  the  greatest  respect  and 
admiration  among  readers  of  just  taste  and  of  a  thoughtful 
turn  of  mind.  Having  the  honor  of  being  on  exceedingly 
intimate  terms  with  Mr.  Bell  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  I 
recollect  having  said  to  him,  in  presence  of  his  most  intel- 
ligent and  estimable  lady,  that  I  thought  this  Vauxhall  speech 
by  far  the  best  I  had  ever  seen  of  his  composition,  and  that 
I  had  heard  much  as  to  its  effect  upon  those  who  listened  to 
it.  He  very  modestly  declared  that  he  had  taken  more  pains 
in  preparing  it  than  he  had  exercised  in  any  other  instance. 
Mrs.  Bell  said,  with  that  noble  and  hearty  frankness  and  free- 
dom from  false  delicacy  which  so  distinguished  her,  that  there 
was  an  anecdote  connected  with  that  same  speech  which  she 
would  relate  to  me,  which  she  did,  very  much  in  these  words : 
*'  I  had  never  seen  Mr.  Bell  until  the  day  on  which  he  ad- 
dressed the  large  assemblage  at  Vauxhall,  though  I  had 
heard  much  of  him,  and  sympathized  with  him  deeply  as  a 
public  man.  I  listened  to  the  whole  of  it,  with  the  warmest 
admiration.  When  he  closed,  I  whispered  to  a  friend,  that 
though  I  had  never  before  thought  of  marrying  a  second 
time,  I  did  not  know  how  I  should  be  able  to  refuse  a  nuptial 
offer  from  such  an  orator  and  patriot  as  I  had  been  just  listen- 
ing to  with  such  unqualified  delight.  Whether  Mr.  Bell 
lieard  of  my  commendations  of  him  or  not,  it  is  not  for  me 
to  say ;  but  not  many  days  elapsed  before  he  called  to  pay 
liis  personal  respects,  and  in  little  less  time  we  became,  as 
you  see  us,  man  and  wife." 

After  Mr.  Bell's  retirement  from  the  Senate  he  never  re- 
sum.ed  the  practice  of  law,  though  I  know  him  to  have  been 
repeatedly  urged  by  his  friends  to  do  so.  President  Polk  on 
reaching  the  elegant  home  in  Nashville,  which  he  had  chosen 
as  his  place  of  permanent  residence,  and  where  his  venerated 
widow  yet  resides,  at  once  occupied  himself  in  putting  his 
large  law  library  in  order  with  a  view  to  re-entering  upon  the 
toils  of  the  forum.     Whilst  engaged  in  this  task  he  was  at- 


l80      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

tacked  with  a  malign.".nt  di.sease  which  in  a  few  days  brought 
him  to  the  end  of  his  brilhant  and  useful  career,  and  filled  all 
parts  of  the  Republic  with  the  emblems  of  mourning.  The 
writer  of  this  notice  had  the  honor  of  delivering  his  funeral 
oration  in  Washington,  in  presence  of  a  vast  concourse  com- 
posed in  part  of  President  Taylor  and  his  cabinet ;  and  what 
I  then  said  in  commendation  of  this  illustrious  personage,  I 
could  now,  after  the  passing  away  of  nearly  a  third  of  a 
century,  sincerely  and  conscientiously  re-utter. 

Only  a  few  years  previous  to  the  death  of  Mr.  Bell — which, 
event  did  not  occur  until  about  six  years  ago — there  died  in  the 
town  of  Franklin,  in  Williamson  county,  one  of  his  nearest 
relatives  and  most  esteemed  friends — the  late  John  Marshall. 
This  gentleman  was  born  within  a  short  distance  of  the  spot 
where  he  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life.  He  was  one  of 
the  most  quiet  and  modest  of  men  in  his  manners  and  gen- 
eral bearing.  No  one  ever  suspected  him  of  being  ambitious 
of  public  preferment.  His  temper  was  kind  and  gentle 
almost  to  a  fault.  He  was  open,  frank  and  outspoken  about 
all  things,  and  to  all  persons.  His  mind  was  strong,  well- 
balanced,  and  active  in  its  movements.  He  delighted  in  read- 
ing law  books,  and  delighted  just  as  much  in  reading  history^ 
novels,  and  poetry.  His  memory  was  both  capacious  and 
retentive.  In  conversation,  and  occasionally  at  the  bar  also, 
he  was  a  little  sluggish  and  difficult  to  rouse.  When  excited 
to  the  proper  pitch  he  conversed  with  animation  and  bril- 
liancy, and  spoke  with  a  vehement  energy  and  fervad  elo- 
quence which  alike  surprised  and  delighted  all  who  listened 
to  him.  His  rise  to  forensic  distinction  had  been  a  little 
slow,  but,  for  about  ten  years  before  his  decease  he  was  al- 
most universally  recognized  as  one  of  the  best  informed 
jurists  and  most  effective  advocates  to  be  found  anywhere 
in  the  State  of  Tennessee.  Had  he  lived  ten  years  longer  it 
would  have  been  in  his  power  to  reach  the  highest  honors  of 
his  profession  had  he  chosen  to  do  so. 

Contemporary  with  Mr.  Marshall  and  of  almost  equal  in- 
tellectual excellence,  was  Andrew  J.  Ewing.  He  was  born 
in  Nashville,  and  was  there  brought  up  and  educated.     His- 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      l8l 

intellectual  faculties  were  of  rather  a  peculiar  structure.  His 
perceptive  powers  were  quick  and  lively ;  his  judgment  was 
solid  and  accurate  ;  his  sensibilities  were  easily  roused,  and 
he  had  the  utmost  facility  in  communicating  his  feelings  to 
others.  He  had  read  much,  thought  more,  and  seemed  to 
have  an  intuitive  perception  of  the  characters  of  those  with 
whom  he  came  in  contact,  and  of  their  particular  motives  of 
action.  He  was  one  of  the  most  successful  jury-lawyers  that 
Tennessee  has  known  ;  but  in  no  department  of  professional 
life  did  he  show  any  want  of  those  qualities  which  command 
success  and  lead  to  permanent  fame.  Just  as  the  civil  war 
was  commencing,  he  formed  a  partnership  with  the  distin- 
guished advocate  last  delineated  ;  but  both  Mr.  Marshall  and 
himself  died  before  their  compact  of  association  could  be 
carried  into  effect. 

Thomas  H.  Fletcher  belonged  to  an  earlier  generation  of 
attorneys.  He  had  been  a  merchant  in  Nashville  for  some 
years  before  he  ever  thought  of  practicing  or  even  of  study- 
ing the  science  of  law.  Failing  in  business  he  took  to  the 
reading  of  law  books  from  necessity,  obtained  a  license,  and 
became  quickly  known  as  a  brilliant  and  effective  speaker  in 
jury  cases.  Mr.  Fletcher  became  widely  known  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1824,  as  the  author  of  what  was  called  "  The  Politi- 
cal Horse-race"  in  which  he  humorously  and  graphically  por- 
trayed the  characteristics  and  conjectured  popularity  of  the 
presidential  candidates  of  that  period,  Messrs.  Clay,  Craw- 
ford, Adams,  Jackson,  and  Calhoun.  I  well  remember  the 
merriment  awakened  in  popular  circles  by  this  political  jeii 
d' esprit,  and  have  always  regretted  not  to  have  forrn^d  the 
personal  acquaintance  of  its  sprightly  and  amiable  author. 

Cave  Johnson,  for  many  years  a  member  of  Congress  from 
Tennessee,  and  subsequently  postmaster-general  in  the  time 
of  President  Polk,  was  for  many  years  a  practitioner  of  law 
in  Tennessee,  and  has  left  behind  him  a  high  reputation  for 
shrewdness  and  practical  intelligence,  for  manly  energy, 
and  sterling  probity.  He  was  too  deeply  immersed  in  poli- 
tics for  some  thirty  years  of  his  active  and  bustling  life,  to 
become  an  erudite  lawyer  or  a  forensic  advocate  of  the 
highest  grade. 


1 82      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

One  of  the  most  brilliant  and  versatile  men  that  has  ever 
appeared  at  the  bar  of  Tennessee  was  the  late  Thomas  A.  R. 
Nelson.  He  was  a  man  most  richly  endowed  by  nature,  and^ 
having  in  early  life  been  blessed  with  an  excellent  education, 
he  had  subsequently  used  all  accessible  means  of  cultivating 
his  intellect  in  all  its  various  departments.  His  reasoning- 
powers  were  of  a  very  high  order ;  his  imagination  was  one 
of  uncommon  fertility,  and  easily  excited  to  action ;  he  was 
capable  of  the  most  pungent  and  telling  satire  when  circum- 
stances were  such  as  to  call  it  into  requisition ;  and  he  posses- 
sed a  command  of  words  which  was  positively  marvellous. 
He  very  early  in  life  acquired  much  reputation  as  a  well-in- 
formed jurist,  and  in  the  field  of  politics  he  often  shone  with 
a  resplendency  v.hich  awakened  the  admiration  of  all  who 
listened  to  the  eloquent  speeches  to  which  he  gave  utterance 
either  in  the  presence  of  large  popular  assemblages,  or  on  the 
floor  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  Congress.  During 
the  short  period  that  he  served  as  one  of  the  judges  of  the 
supreme  court  of  Tennessee  he  delivered  a  number  of  opin- 
ions which  greatly  enhanced  his  fame  as  a  man  of  ex- 
tended judicial  learning,  of  a  sound  and  discriminating  judg- 
ment, and  of  a  refined  and  polished  elocution.  The  severe 
sufferings  which  he  had  to  undergo  during  the  earlier  stages 
of  the  civil  war  have  been  a  source  of  sincere  and  painful  re- 
gret to  thousands  of  good  and  patriotic  citizens ;  but  the 
trials  which  it  was  then  his  lot  to  encounter  presented  to  him 
an  opportunity  of  displaying  virtues  for  which  he  would  not, 
in  all  probability,  have  been  given  credit  but  for  the  almost 
unparalleled  tribulations  which  called  them  forth.  Judge 
Nelson  occasionally  amused  himself  with  writing  in  poetic 
measure,  and  several  of  his  brilliant  b  t  unlabored  effusions, 
partaking  strongly  of  the  Hudibrastic  stamp,  have  in  former 
days  afforded  no  little  amusement  to  the  few  select  friends^ 
among  whom  they  were  alone  permitted  to  circulate. 

Whilst  many  bright  names,  not  heretofore  mentioned,  are 
rising  up  before  my  memor>%  to  all  of  which  I  should  rejoice 
to  pay  a  fitting  tribute,  did  circumstances  admit,  I  am  reluc- 
tantly constrained  to  bring  to  a  termination  all  I  ha  e  to  say 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      1 83 

in  this  chapter  concerning  the  bench  and  bar  of  Tennessee,  of 
the  olden  times,  v/ith  a  few  brief  remarks  upon  two  person- 
ages, both  of  whom  have  been  long  and  favorably  known  to 
the  American  public,  Balie  Peyton  and  Henry  A.  Wise  were, 
a  little  less  than  a  half  century  ago,  cotemporary  members  of 
the  Tennessee  bar.  The  former  of  these  gentlemen  was  a 
native  of  Tennessee,  whilst  the  last-mentioned  of  them  was 
born  in  Virginia.  They  met,  as  I  have  learned,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  city  of  Nashville.  Being  about  the  same  age  and 
of  congenial  dispositions,  they  at  once  became  familiar  as- 
sociates and  intimate  friends.  Nature  had  been  lavish  in  her 
gifts  to  both  of  them,  and  at  the  commencement  of  their 
forensic  career  hosts  of  admiring  friends  predicted,  both  for 
the  one  and  the  other,  quite  as  much  of  distinction  as  it  has 
since  been  their  fortune  to  acquire.  Mr.  Wise  having  re- 
mained in  Nashville  only  a  year  or  two,  returned  to  the  state 
of  his  birth,  and  soon  after  commenced  that  brilliant  politi- 
cal career  which  I  cannot  but  hope  has  not  yet  terminated. 
The  two  friends  again  met  upon  the  floor  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  took  a  leading  part  in  the  excited  de- 
bates which  had  their  progress  during  General  Jackson's  most 
eventful  administration.  Each  of  these  gentlemen  has  in  his 
time  held  high  public  stations,  and  has  participated  promi- 
nently in  scenes  which  constitute  an  important  portion  of 
American  history.  As  both  are  yet  surviving,  and  not  at  all 
inclined,  as  is  to  be  seen  from  many  tokens,  to  retire  alto- 
gether into  obscurity  and  inaction,  it  would  not  be,  for  sev- 
eral obvious  reasons,  very  becoming  on  my  part  to  apply  to 
them  the  language  of  formal  laudation ;  and  as  for  each  of 
them  I  have  long  cherished  sentiments  of  elevated  esteem 
and  cordial  friendship,  it  would  be  impossible  that  I  could 
refer  to  them  in  language  of  censure  or  disparagement.  May 
they  both  long  live,  with  constantly  multiplying  honors,  and 
with  ever-strengthening  claims  to  the  confidence  and  grati- 
tude of  their  countrymen ! 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Robert  Cittenden. — Chesier  Ashley. — Wm.  Cummins. — Ambrose  H.  Sevier. — 
Absalom  Fowbr. — Benjamin  Johnson —Diniel  Ringo. — Edward  Cross.— Thomas  J; 
Lacy.— David  Walker.— Frederic  W.  Tratnall.— J.  W.  Cocke.— A.  H.  Garland.— 
General  Albert  Pike. 

Having  resided  at  several  places,  not  far  distant  from  the 
borders  of  Arkansas,  during  the  last  fifty  years,  and  having 
during  that  period,  to  a  limited  extent,  participated  in  judicial 
trials  there  in  progress,  it  is  with  pleasure  that  I  put  on  record 
a  few  particulars  connected  with  the  history  of  the  Bench  and 
Bar  of  that  very  interesting  and  now  rapidly  growing  com- 
monwealth. From  the  adoption  of  her  first  State  Constitution, 
Arkansas  has  been  remarkably  well  supplied  with  learned  and 
able  attorneys,  and  with  respectable  and  well-informed  judges, 
as  the  volumes  of  her  judicial  reports  very  satisfactorily 
attest. 

Robert  Crittenden  located  in  Arkansas  at  a  very  early 
period.  He  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  a  younger  brother 
of  the  celebrated  John  J.  Crittenden.  In  natural  intellectual 
resources  he  was  supposed  by  many  to  be  not  inferior  to  his 
distinguished  kinsman.  He  is  universally  admitted  to  have 
been  a  bold,  impressive  and  able  advocate,  well  informed  in 
everything  appertaining  to  his  profession,  and  especially  per- 
suasive with  juries.  He  was  an  ardent  partisan,  a  dexterous 
and  influential  political  leader,  and  possessed  a  fiery  energy 
of  character  decidedly  bordering  on  combativeness.  He  was 
a  full  believer  in  the  rules  of  the  duelling  code,  and,  on  at 
least  one  occasion,  had  proved  his  faitJi  by  his  7vorks  in  that 
perilous  sphere  of  action.  I  never  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
Mr.  Crittenden  but  once,  and  that  was  under  very  peculiar 
circumstances.  When  I  was  myself  very  foolishly  engaged  in 
what  was  then  called  an  affair  of  honor  with  S.  S.  Prentiss,  a 
fine-looking  gentleman  suddenly  appeared  upon  the  field,  and 
announcing  his  name,  addressed  the  parties  combating  and 
their  seconds  for  a  few  minutes  in  the  interests  oi pacification. 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  1 85 

"This  manly  and  generous  effort  not  proving  successful,  Mr. 
Crittenden  (for  it  was  he  who  had  thus  interposed)  withdrew, 
and  I  never  met  him  afterwards.  This  was  in  1832,  and  I 
believe  that  he  died  a  few  months  subsequently. 

Chester  Ashley  was  a  native  of  New  York.  His  legal 
attainments  were  more  than  respectable ;  he  possessed  a  clear 
and  discriminating  intellect;  evinced  more  than  ordinary 
shrewdness  and  sagacity  in  all  business  concerns,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  laying  up  much  money,  and  in  the  accumulation  of 
large  bodies  of  well-selected  and  valuable  wild  lands.  I  had 
the  honor  of  serving  with  him  in  the  National  Senate  for 
several  years.  He  seldom  addressed  that  body,  and  never 
except  upon  questions  involving  the  local  interests  of  his 
state.  He  was  a  man  of  a  pleasing  and  decidedly  impressive 
aspect,  had  the  appearance  of  much  cordiality,  and  seemed 
much  disposed  to  be  on  agreeable  and  amicable  terms  with 
all  whom  he  met  in  social  intercourse. 

The  colleague  of  ,Mr.  Ashley  in  the  Senate  was  Ambrose 
H.  Sevier.  He  had  obtained  a  license  to  practise  law,  but  had 
left  the  bar  very  soon  for  the  more  congenial  field  of  politics. 
He  was  a  man  of  fine  person,  and  of  most  agreeable  and 
winning  manners.  He  possessed  a  strong  and  penetrating 
mind ;  evinced  much  tact  in  the  management  of  party  con- 
cerns, and,  had  he  chosen  to  be  a  student  of  books,  might 
doubtless  have  attained  much  distinction.  He  was  decidedly 
a  favorite  with  his  party,  and  his  kind  and  conciliatory  man- 
ners gave  him  general  popularity.  I  never  heard  him  speak 
at  much  length ;  nor  did  he  seem  ambitious  of  oratorical  fame ; 
but  when  he  did  engage  in  debate,  he  always  evinced  a  large 
amount  of  native  good  sense  and  practical  intelligence.  He 
was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  in  the 
Senate,  when  the  Mexican  Treaty  of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo 
was  submitted  to  that  body  for  ratification,  and  was  very  effi- 
cient in  procuring  for  it  the  sanction  of  his  brother  Senators. 
He  was  despatched  by  President  Polk  to  the  City  of  Mexico, 
in  order  to  secure  the  acquiescence  of  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment in  the  amendments  affixed  by  the  Senate  to  the  treaty, 
.and,  in  connection  with  the  present  Justice  Clifford  (who  was 


1 86  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

united  with  him  in  this  important  commission),  succeeded  in« 
obtaining  the  desired  object.  Colonel  Sevier  died  very  soon 
after  his  return  to  the  United  States. 

William  Cummins  emigrated  from  the  State  of  Kentucky 
to  Arkansas.  He  obtained  much  respectability  as  a  lawyer, 
having  a  mind  of  much  quickness,  and  habits  of  untiring 
industry;  but  was  not  regarded  as  at  all  a  profound  jurist. 

Absalom  Fowler  was  also  a  Kentuckian  by  birth,  as  I  have 
been  informed.  He  was  not  wanting  in  legal  attainments, 
and  possessed  a  mind  of  a  decidedly  practical  cast ;  but  he 
had  no  claims  to  be  regarded  as  an  orator,  having  a  harsh 
and  grating  voice,  and  a  disposition  but  little  turned  to  con- 
ciliation. 

The  Honorable  Benjamin  Johnson  was  for  many  years 
a  most  efficient  and  satisfactory  Judge  of  the  superior  courts 
of  Arkansas,  arjd  afterwards  officiated,  for  a  considerable 
period,  and  in  a  most  creditable  manner,  as  a  United  States 
Judge.  He  was  a  man  of  many  social  and  domestic  virtues,. 
and  has  left  behind  him  a  high  and  spotless  character.  He 
was  born  in  Kentucky  and  was  brother  to  Richard  M.  John- 
son. 

Daniel  Ringo,  a  Kentuckian  also,  is  remembered  chiefly 
as  a  lawyer  thoroughly  versed  in  the  forms  and  technicali- 
ties of  the  profession. 

The  Honorable  Edward  Cross  was  a  highly  respected  ter- 
ritorial judge. 

Judge  Thomas  J.  Lacy  I  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing- 
well.  His  ability  as  a  judge  was  universally  admitted, 
and  the  accuracy  of  his  decisions  was  such  that,  during  a 
long  period  of  service  on  the  bench,  no  opinion  of  his  was 
ever  overruled.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  great  urbanity,  and 
the  delight  of  all  social  circles. 

David  Walker,  who  is  yet  engaged  in  the  performance  of 
official  duties,  has  served  for  the  greater  part  of  his  life  as  a 
judge,  and  is  a  man  of  much  ability,  well  versed  in  his  pro- 
fession, and  of  most  unexceptionable  manners  and  character. 

Frederic  W.  Tratnall  and  John  W.  Cocke  are  yet  kindly 
remembered  and  greatly  respected  by  the  early  residents  of 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  187^ 

Arkansas.  I  had  not  the  pleasure  of  knowing  either  of 
them ;  but  I  have  heard,  in  past  years,  much  both  of  their 
professional  learning  and  their  general  literary  attainments. 

With  the  present  renowned  governor  of  Arkansas,  A.  H. 
Garland,  I  have  held  the  kindest  and  most  confidential  rela- 
tions for  many  years.  It  has  been  nearly  twenty  years  since 
I  first  met  him  at  the  bar  of  Arkansas,  and  learned  to  appre- 
ciate his  many  noble  traits  of  character,  his  industry  and 
ability  as  a  lawyer,  and  his  inflexible  devotion  to  principle. 
The  high  moral  courage,  the  commingled  energy  and  wis- 
dom, and  the  wonderful  tact  and  adroitness  displayed  by 
him,  during  the  last  two  years,  in  the  very  difficult  and  re- 
sponsible position  which  he  has  occupied,  have  secured  to  him  a 
solid  and  enduring  fame  which  few  men  of  the  present  gen- 
eration have  acquired.  He  is  still  young,  not  being  yet  be- 
yond the  prime  of  life,  and  has,  I  trust,  many  years  of  honor- 
able usefulness  before  him. 

I  have  now  to  speak  of  one  whom  I  have  known  for  many 
years  most  favorably,  and  whose  reputation  is  diffiised 
throughout  this  continent.  General  Albert  Pike  is  a  native 
of  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  and  of  a  most  respectable 
lineage.  His  early  education  was  by  no  means  neglected, 
but  was  of  a  singularly  miscellaneous  character.  He  has 
been,  from  boyhood,  passionately  fond  of  books,  and  is  the 
owner,  at  the  present  moment,  of  one  of  the  largest  and  best 
selected  private  libraries  to  be  found  on  the  continent,  and 
with  the  contents  of  every  volume  contained  therein  he  is 
most  familiarly  acquainted.  He  is  thoroughly  versed  in 
several  of  the  ancient  languages,  and  there  are  but  few  of 
the  modern  tongues  of  which  he  is  ignorant.  He  has  been 
much  devoted,  for  many  years  past,  to  what  is  known  as 
comparative  philology,  and  has  written  several  volumes  on  that 
subject  which,  should  they  be  ever  published,  will,  I  doubt 
not,  at  once  secure  him  a  European  fame  such  as  few  native- 
born  Americans  have  been  yet  able  to  attain.  He  has  alsa 
written  quite  voluminously  upon  the  learning  of  his  own  pro- 
fession, which  he  has  not  chosen  though,  thus  far,  to  give  to 
the  public.     His  mind  is  one  of  uncommon  strength  and 


150  BENXH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST, 

•versatility ;  he  writes  with  elegance  and  vigor ;  speaks 
with  marked  earnestness  and  force,  and  is  the  author  of 
many  beautiful  poems,  which  thousands  of  his  admiring 
friends  have  read  with  exquisite  entertainment  and  delight. 
General  Pike  is  reported  to  have  mastered  all  the  arcana  of 
free  masonry,  and  has  long  enjoyed  a  very  high  rank  in  that 
ancient  and  venerated  order. 

He  migrated  from  New  England  in  1831,  and  sojourned 
for  some  time  in  New  Mexico.  In  1832  he  removed  to 
Arkansas  and  located  for  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  the 
Post  of  Arkansas.  There  he  met  a  gentleman  destined  to  be- 
come the  wealthiest  citizen  of  St.  Louis.  The  late  James  H. 
Lucas  was  then  also  a  member  of  the  bar,  a  justice  of  the  peace 
and  county  judge,  and  had  the  honor,  in  the  latter  capacity,  of 
marrying  General  Pike  and  his  still  surviving  wife.  The  General 
removed  to  Little  Rock  in  1833,  and  became  most  extensively 
engaged  in  the  exercise  of  his  chosen  profession.  Though  an 
ardent  devotee  of  the  Federal  Union,  when  the  late  civil  war 
broke  out,  he  promptly  enlisted  in  it,  and  but  for  the  grossest 
and  most  cruel  injustice  and  illiberality  put  in  practice  to- 
ward him  by  high  official  personages,  not  necessary  to  be 
here  named,  would  doubtless  have  gained  much  reputation 
as  a  military  commander.  At  the  termination  of  the  war  he 
located  in  the  city  of  Memphis,  where  he  remained  until  in- 
vited to  give  his  professional  attention  to  several  cases  of 
great  magnitude  and  complexity  pending  in  the  courts  of 
Washington,  when  he  removed  thither,  and  is  now  delightfully 
domiciled  in  the  neighboring  town  of  Alexandria,  whence  he 
comes  every  day  or  two  to  his  professional  office  at  the 
capital.  As  the  General  is  still  living  I  shall  say  nothing  of 
Tiis  majestic  person,  his  cordial  and  winning  manners,  or  his 
deeply  instructive  and  highly  entertaining  converse  in  hours 
•of  social  relaxation.  I  take  the  liberty  of  subjoining  a  poem 
written  by  General  Pike  many  years  since,  which,  I  am 
sure,  will  be  read  with  pleasure  by  all  who  have  a  true  relish 
for  the  beautiful  and  touching  in  this  species  of  composition. 


BENXH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  189* 

THE    WIDOWED    HEART. 

Lachrymag  pondera  vocis  babent. 
Tristis  eris,  si  solus  eris  :  dominseque  relictro 
Ante  oculos  facies  stabit,  ut  ipsa,  tuos. 

Thou  art  lost  to  me  forever !  — I  have  lost  thee,  Isadore ! 
Thy  head  will  never  rest  upon  my  loyal  bosom  more ; 
Thy  tender  eyes  will  never  more  look  fondly  into  mine, 
Nor  thine  arms  around  me  lovingly  and  trustingly  entwine, — 
Thou  art  lost  to  me  forever,  Isadore ! 

Thou  art  dead  and  gone,  dear  loving  wife,  thy  heart  is  still 

^  and  cold. 

And  mine,  benumbed  with  wretchedness,  is  prematurely  old : 

Of  our  whole  world  of  love  and  joy  thou  wast  the  only  light, 

A  star,  whose  setting  left  behind,  ah  me !  how  dark  a  night ! — 

Thou  art  lost  to  me  forever,  Isadore ! 

The  vines  and  flowers  we  planted.  Love,  I  tend  with  anxious 

care. 
And  yet  they  droop  and  fade  away,  as  though  they  wanted 

air: 
They  cannot  live  without  thine  eyes  to  feed  them  with  their 

light; 
Since  thy  hands  ceased  to  twine  them.  Love,  they  cannot 

grow  aright ; — 

Thou  art  lost  to  them  forever,  Isadore ! 

Our  little  ones  inquire  of  me,  where  is  their  mother  gone, — 
What  answer  can  I  make  to  them,  except  with  tears  alone? 
For  if  I  say,  "  To  Heaven,"  then  the  poor  things  wish  to  learn 
How  far  it  is,  and  where,  and  when  their  mother  will  return; — 
Thou  art  lost  to  them  forever,  Isadore ! 

Our  happy  home  has  now  become  a  lonely,  silent  place ; 
Like  Heaven  without  its  stars  it  is,  without  thy  blessed  face: 
Our  little  ones  are  still  and  sad ; — none  love  them  now  but  I^ 
Except  their  mother's  spirit,  which  I  feel  is  always  nigh ; — 
Thou  lovest  us  in  Heaven,  Isadore ! 


190     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

Their  merry  laugh  is  heard  no  more,  they  neither  run  nor 

play, 
But  wander  round  like  little  ghosts,  the  long,  long  summer 

day: 
The  spider  weaves  his  web  across  the  windows  at  his' will, 
The  flowers  I  gathered  for  thee  last  are  on  the  mantel  still ; — 
Thou  art  lost  to  me  forever,  Isadore ! 

Restless  I  pace  our  lonely  rooms,  I  play  our  songs  no  more, 
The  garish  sun  shines  flauntingly  upon  the  unswept  floor; 
The  mocking-bird  still  sits  and  sings,  O  melancholy  strain ! 
For  my  heart  is  like  an  autumn  cloud  that  overflows  with  rain ; 
Thou  art  lost  to  me  forever,  Isadore ! 

Alas !  how  changed  is  all,  dear  wife,  from  that  sweet  eve  in 

spring. 
When  first  my  love  for  thee  was  told,  and  thou  to  me  didst 

cling. 
Thy  sweet  eyes  radiant  through  their  tears,  pressing  thy  lips 

to  mine. 
In  our  old  arbor,  Dear,  beneath  the  over-arching  vine ; — 
Those  lips  are  cold  forever,  Isadore ! 

The  moonlight  struggled  through  the  leaves,  and  fell  upon 

thy  face. 
So  lovingly  upturning  there,  with  pure  and  trustful  gaze ; 
The  Southern  breezes  murmured  through  the  dark  cloud  of 

thy  hair. 
As  like  a  happy  child  thou  didst  in  my  arms  nestle  there ; — 
Death  holds  thee  now  ferever,  Isadore ! 

Thy  love  and  faith  so  plighted  then,  with  mingled  smile  and 

tear, 

Was  never  broken.  Darling,  while  we  dwelt  together  here : 

Nor  bitter  word,  nor  dark,  cold  look  thou  ever  gavest  me — 

Loving  and  trusting  always,  as  I  loved  and  worshipped  thee ; 

Thou  art  lost  to  me  forever,  Isadore ! 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     I9I 

Thou  wast  my  nurse  in  sickness,  and  my  comforter  in  health, 
So   gentle   and   so   constant,    when   our   love   was   all   our 

wealth : 
Thy  voice  of  music  cheered  me,  Love,  in  each  despondent 

hour. 
As    Heaven's   sweet   honey-dew  consoles   the   bruised  and 

broken  flower ; — 

Thou  art  lost  to  me  forever,  Isadore ! 

Thou  art  gone  from  me  forever ; — I  have  lost  thee,  Isadore ! 
And  desolate  and  lonely  I  shall  be  forevermore : 
Our  children  hold  me,  Darling,  or  I  to  God  should  pray 
To  let  me  cast  the  burthen  of  this  long,  dark  life  away, 
And  see  thy  face  in  Heaven,  Isadore ! 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Edward  R.Livingston.  —  Mazereau.  —  Davezac.  —  Carleton. — Mr.  Henning. — 
Judge  Workman. — General  Ripley. — Charles  Conrad. — John  R,  Grimes. — Contest 
between  Grimes  and  Prentiss. — Pierre  Soule — John  A.  SHdell. — Seth  *Barton. — 
Louisiana  Bench.— Judge  John  A.  Campbell. 

By  far  the  most  important  measure  of  Mr.  Jefferson's- 
memorable  administration  was  unquestionably  the  acquisi- 
tion of  Louisiana.  The  advantages  of  various  kinds  which 
flowed,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  from  this  amplification  of 
our  national  domain,  admit  not  of  anything  like  a  precise  and 
accurate  specification,  and,  were  this  even  possible,  certainly 
this  is  not  the  proper  occasion  for  the  setting  of  them  forth 
in  entirety,  or  for  the  specification  of  any  particular  class  or 
portion  thereof. 

The  incorporation  of  so  large  a  number  of  people  as  then 
inhabited  the  extensive  region  purchased  from  Napoleon  the 
First  into  our  own  national  family,  speaking  as  they  did  the 
language  of  Spain  or  France,  and  possessing  civil  institutions 
totally  unlike  our  own,  and  social  habits  and  usages  equally 
dissimilar,  was,  to  say  the  least,  a  bold  and  hazardous  exper- 
iment of  statesmanship.  From  the  earliest  settlement  of 
Louisiana,  the  civil  law  prevailed  there ;  the  titles  to  landed 
estate  were  drawn  up  exclusively  in  the  French  or  Spanish 
language;  both  legislative  and  judicial  proceedings  were 
recorded  therein ;  and  few  or  none  of  the  distinctive  princi- 
ples of  the  common  law  of  England  had  been  yet  introduced. 
Indeed,  even  at  the  present  moment,  the  jurisprudential  sys- 
tem of  Louisiana  has  far  more  resemblance  to  that  of  France 
or  Spain  than  to  the  laws  prevailing  in  any  of  the  other  states- 
or  territories  of  the  American  Union. 


BENXH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     1 93 

If  there  were  any  very  learned  jurists  residing  in  the  city 
of  New  Orleans  during  the  first  years  of  the  present  century, 
their  fame  has  certainly  not  come  down  to  men  of  the  present 
generation ;  but  the  condition  of  affairs  in  this  delightful  and 
attractive  locality  was  such  as  to  hold  out  strong  inducements 
to  enterprising  Americans  of  every  class  to  migrate  thither; 
and  in  a  very  few  years  the  Crescent  City  became  filled  with 
wealthy  merchants,  accomplished  members  of  the  bar,  learned 
and  skilful  physicians,  and  artisans  and  laborers  of  almost 
every  description  possible  to  be  mentioned. 

Among  these  were  some  men  whose  fame  is  destined  to 
live  as  long  as  this  great  republic  shall  itself  continue  to  stand. 

Perhaps  the  highest  rank  at  the  bar  of  Louisiana,  in  the 
earlier  days  of  that  respected  commonwealth,  should,  be 
accorded  to  Edward  R.  Livingston.  This  gentleman  had 
represented  his  native  state  in  the  Congress  of  the  Union,  and 
officiated  as  mayor  of  the  city  of  New  York,  before  his  set- 
tlement in  New  Orleans.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  most  varied 
attainments,  and  had  thoroughly  mastered  the  learning  apper- 
taining to  every  branch  of  his  profession,  before  his  removal 
to  the  Southwest.  Here  he  immediately  obtained  the  most 
extended  employment  as  a  barrister,  and  is  understood  to 
have  accumulated  a  large  fortune.  His  subsequent  career  as 
a  member  of  the  National  Senate,  one  of  President  Jackson's 
Cabinet,  and  as  a  Minister  abroad,  is  familiar  to  all  intelligent 
citizens.  His  speech  upon  the  Force  Bill,  as  it  was  called,  in 
1832,  must  ever  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
specimens  of  parliamentary  eloquence,  and  of  patriotic  and 
consummate  statesmanship,  that  our  country  has  ever  yet 
known.  His  admirers  have  gone  so  far  as  to  claim  for  him 
the  authorship  of  President  Jackson's  famous  proclamation, 
addressed  to  the  people  of  South  Carolina.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  he  was  consulted  by  that  venerable  man  in 
regard  to  the  questions  so  ably  and  eloquently  discussed 
therein,  previous  to  its  emanation,  and  it  is  not  improb- 
able that  Mr.  Livingston  supplied  the  constitutional  ar- 
gument which  it  contains,  supervised  the  whole  document, 
and   imparted   to    it   that    high    literary  polish   and  refine- 


194     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

ment  which  eminently  distinguish  it.  I  have  heard  it  said 
that  Mr.  Livingston,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  professional 
career,  declined  the  giving  his  advice  as  an  attorney  in 
any  case  where  the  party  who  solicited  his  professional  aid 
could  not  afford  to  pay  a  fee  of  five  hundred  dollars.  He  is 
reported  never  to  have  spoken  in  court,  except  upon  the 
fullest  preparation,  and  to  have  been  always  more  remarkable 
for  force,  clearness  and  precision,  than  for  grace,  declamatory 
power,  or  delicate  and  soul-moving  pathos. 

I  have  repeatedly  heard  Mr.  Mazereau  in  the  courts  of 
New  Orleans.  His  person  was  grave  and  impressive.  His 
voice  was  strong  and  sonorous.  The  expression  of  his  face 
was  singularly  indicative  of  profound  self-esteem,  and  dis- 
daip  of  opposition.  He  was  far  too  much  given  to  dogma- 
tism to  practice  conciliation,  and  he  sometimes  yielded  to  his 
fiery  and  impulsjive  nature  to  an  extent  that  was  not  a  little 
startling  to  men  of  a  more  sober  and  sedate  temperament. 
He  claimed  a  very  high  place  in  the  ranks  of  scholarship  and 
general  science,  but  it  was  whispered  in  certain  circles  where 
I  was  formerly  conversant,  that  his  erudition  was  not  by  any 
means  as  extensive  as  that  of  many  of  his  less  assuming 
compeers. 

I  knew  Mr.  Davezac  well,  but  only  in  social  circles.  There 
he  did  not  shine  conspicuously — being  not  a  little  coarse  and 
obscene.  His  face,  in  which  a  geniality  bordering  on  sensual- 
ism habitually  sparkled,  brought  to  my  mind  always  the  idea 
of  a  satyr,  and  there  was  in  it  an  appearance  of  cunning  and 
insincerity  not  a  little  disagreeable  to  behold.  He  had  the 
credit  of  speaking  with  uncommon  fluency,  and  of  being 
quite  effective  in  jury  trials  calling  for  ridicule  and  invective. 
I  believe  that  he  was  never  regarded  as  a  deeply  read  lawyer 
or  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  literary  culture. 

Mr.  Carleton,  his  brother-in-law,  was  a  person  of  great 
gentleness  of  manners,  and  was  reported  to  have  given  far 
more  than  ordinary  attention  to  the  books  of  the  civil  law. 
He  translated  in  a  very  satisfactory  manner  at  least  one  val- 
uable civil  law  treatise  from  the  Spanish  into  the  English 
language.     He  was  much  beloved  in  social  life,  and  left  be- 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     I95 

hind  him  a  reputation  for  integrity  of  which  any  man  might 
have  been  justly  proud. 

Mr.  Henning,  when  I  first  saw  him,  in  the  year  1828,  was 
apparently,  between  forty-five  and  fifty  years  of  age.  He 
had  quite  a  full  suit  of  hair,  which  had  already  become  quite 
gray.  He  seemed  to  be  in  the  enjoyment  of  abundant  health ; 
had  a  hopeful  and  serene  expression  of  countenance,  and  his 
manners,  both  at  the  bar  and  in  social  life,  were  singularly 
bland  and  captivating.  He  possessed  a  large  and  lucrative 
practice ;  was  acknowledged  to  be  thoroughly  skilled  in  the 
business  of  his  profession,  and  spoke  with  equal  fluency  in 
the  French  and  English  languages.  His  reputation  for  mor- 
ality was  unblemished,  and  he  was  said  to  be  exceedingly 
uniform  in  the  performance  of  his  duties  as  a  member  of  the 
church.  This  gentleman  had  in  the  early  part  of  his  career 
exercised  the  legal  profession  in  Nashville,  Tennessee,  where 
there  are  still  surviving  several  citizens  who  cherish  a  pleas- 
ant recollection  of  him. 

Judge  Workman  was  still  living  in  1828,  and  seemed  to  be 
enjoying  the  most  robust  health.  He  was  a  Northern  man 
by  birth,  and  came  to  the  Southwest  with  Colonel  Burr,  as 
one  of  his  most  trusted  associates.  When  Burr's  famous 
expedition  into  the  adjacent  Mexican  provinces  failed.  Judge 
Workman  located  as  a  member  of  the  bar  in  the  City  of 
New  Orleans.  Here  he  had  prospered  very  highly,  and  had 
become  surrounded  with  almost  innumerable  friends.  I  am 
sure  that  I  never  beheld  a  face  upon  which  the  signs  of  in- 
ward benevolence  and  integrity  were  more  impressively 
stamped  than  upon  his.  The  first  occasion  upon  which  my 
attention  was  specially  attracted  to  him  I  shall  never  cease 
to  recollect.  I  was  walking  along  one  of  the  most  crowded 
streets  in  New  Orleans  when  I  saw  General  Ripley  (then  also 
a  practitioner  of  law  in  that  city)  approach  Judge  Workman 
when  the  latter  was  advancing  from  a  different  direction.  No 
sooner  did  they  recognize  each  other  than  they  quickened 
their  steps,  and  in  a  few  seconds  actually  almost  ran  into  each 
others  arms  ;  each  extending  his  right  hand  with  most  affec- 
tionate eagerness,  seizing  that  of  the  other,  and  holding  it 


196     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

tightly  grasped  for  some  time,  gazing  all  the  while  kindly 
upon  each  other,  and  conversing,  both  of  them  apparently 
unmindful  of  all  that  was  going  on  around  them.  I  was  so 
much  interested  in  this  scene  that  it  was  with  some  difficulty 
that  I  was  able  to  withdraw  from  the  sight  of  it,  until  it 
should  be  brought  to  a  termination. 

I  have  incidentally  mentioned  General  Ripley  as  connected 
with  the  bar  of  New  Orleans  in  the  year  1828,  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  him  address  the  court  more  than  once  at 
this  period.  He  gave  evidence  of  possessing  a  mind  of  far 
more  than  ordinary  vigor  and  sprightliness,  and  professional 
attainments  of  a  very  respectable  grade.  He  was  certainly 
though  by  no  means  distinguished  for  oratorical  power,  and 
I  should  conjecture  that  he  was  blessed  with  powers  of  per- 
suasion not  above  mediocrity.  His  figure  was  tall  and  com- 
manding ;  he  was  robust  without  being  fleshy ;  had  a  fresh 
and  ruddy  complexion  ;  auburn  hair ;  keen  and  piercing  blue 
eyes,  and  a  nose  decidedly  aquiline  in  shape.  He  had  re- 
ceived a  severe  wound  in  the  neck  in  one  of  the  battles  on 
the  Canadian  frontier,  during  the  war  of  1812-15,  whereby 
the  muscles  there  located  had  been  much  stiffened,  render- 
ing it  difficult,  and  even  a  little  painful  to  hold  the  head  ex- 
cept in  a  perfectly  erect  posture.  This  circumstance  gave 
rise  among  strangers  to  the  suspicion  that  he  was  haughty 
and  austere,  which  was  indeed  very  far  from  being  the  case. 
General  Ripley  was  in  his  latter  days  a  representative  in  Con- 
gress from  the  State  of  Louisiana,  and,  whilst  in  Washington, 
sustained  a  standing  of  which  no  man  need  have  been 
ashamed. 

In  i828  he  was  practicing  law  in  connection  with  Charles 
M.  Conrad,  then  a  very  young  man,  but  giving  the  most 
gratifying  signs  of  future  professional  distinction.  Mr.  Con- 
rad, after  many  years  of  severe  and  successful  professional 
labor,  was  elevated  to  the  National  Senate  about  the  year 
1 841,  was  subsequently  secretary  of  war  during  the  adminis- 
tration of  President  Fillmore,  and  in  1861,  was  a  member  of 
the  Confederate  Congress,  where  he  showed  himself  to  be  a 
most  sensible,  moderate,  just-minded,  and  truly  conservative 
legislator. 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     I97 

When  the  gentleman  just  mentioned  was  elected  to  the 
Senate,  the  celebrated  John  R.  Grimes  was  an  opposing  can- 
didate. This  personage  seems  to  be  entitled  to  a  somewhat 
extended  notice.  I  knew  him  well,  and  shall  endeavor  to 
describe  him  impartially.  Colonel  Grimes  was  a  native  of 
Orange  county  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  and  grew  up  to 
manhood  under  influences  exceedingly  favorable  to  the  full 
development  of  such  intellectual  faculties  as  nature  had  be- 
stowed upon  him.  He  had  scarcely  reached  the  age  of  ma- 
turity when  he  resolved  to  leave  the  venerated  state  of  his 
birth  and  to  seek  fame  and  fortune  in  the  far  Southwest. 
Before  locating  himself  though  permanently,  he  travelled 
very  extensively  through  the  most  attractive  portions  of 
Mexico ;  after  which  he  came  to  New  Orleans,  and  joined  an 
elder  brother  who  was  then  holding  a  respectable  official 
position  in  that  city.  In  a  few  months,  he  prepared  himself 
for  entering  upon  the  practice  of  the  law,  and  quickly  at- 
tained a  very  high  rank  as  an  advocate.  In  process  of  time 
he  achieved  such  a  reputation  for  learning  and  ability  as  few 
men  have  enjoyed  in  any  part  of  the  Republic. 

John  R.  Grimes  had  been  singularly  favored  by  nature, 
both  in  regard  to  his  physical  and  mental  attributes.  He  was 
tall,  well  proportioned,  and  of  an  air  and  carriage  in  the  high- 
est degree  prepossessing.  His  face  beamed  with  intellect; 
his  eye  impressed  the  beholder  with  mingled  respect  and 
sympathy;  his  voice  was  clear,  sonorous,  and  perfectly  modu- 
lated; his  gesticulation  was  simple,  graceful  and  winning. 
He  seldom  spoke  above  the  conversational  tone,  never  in- 
dulged in  harsh  and  boisterous  declamation,  or  in  extrava- 
gant and  high-flown  figures  of  speech.  He  made  no  elabo- 
rate jcffort  to  display  his  learning,  or  claimed  to  be  wiser 
than  those  with  whom  he  held  social  intercourse.  Any  ap- 
proach to  pedantry  was,  to  his  just  and  well-regulated  taste, 
supremely  disgusting.  Those  who  dealt  in  unmeaning  mys- 
ticism, or  who  sought  an  ephemeral  glory  by  paradoxical 
assertions,  never  gained  a  patient  audience  from  him.  He 
seldom  quoted  from  books  of  any  kind  merely  for  the  sake 
of  ornament,  and  preferred  plain,  idiomatic  English  words  to 


198     BENXH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

the  most  euphonious  and  pompous  phrases  from  some  for- 
eign tongue.  His  absolute  self-possession,  when  addressing 
either  court  or  jury,  awakened  a  placid  feeling  of  admira- 
tion and  deference  in  all  who  listened  to  him.  He  was  uni- 
formly sedate,  unaffected,  courteous  and  obliging  in  his  de- 
meanor; words  of  coarse  revilement  or  of  fierce  denunciation 
never  found  utterance  from  his  lips.  He  employed  none  of 
the  tricks  and  devices  of  false  rhetoric.  As  a  logician  it  is 
doubtful  whether  any  one  superior  to  him  has  appeared  in 
the  forum  since  the  days  of  Tacitus  and  Pliny.  His  facility 
of  oral  enunciation  was  truly  marvellous.  He  had  mastered 
all  the  complexities  of  the  Common  Law  of  England ;  and 
there  was  no  department  of  the  jurisprudence  of  the  Romans 
with  which  he  had  not  made  himself  familiar.  It  is  con- 
fidently believed  that  there  is  scarcely  a  standard  book  in 
English  literature  which  he  had  not  perused  and  digested; 
and  the  Greek  and  Roman  classics  he  had  read  and  re-read 
until  all  the  precious  treasures  which  they  contain  had  been 
made  a  portion  of  his  own  private  property,  and  all  the  beau- 
ties, both  of  sentiment  and  expression,  which  render  them  so 
attractive  and  enamouring,  had  been  safely  laid  away  in  the 
recesses  of  his  own  surprisingly  retentive  memory,  to  be  re- 
produced with  undiminished  splendor  and  effectiveness 
when  some  suitable  occasion  should  call  them  forth.  When- 
ever drawn  out  in  colloquy,  as  oftentimes  he  was,  he  really 
seemed,  like  Mr.  Webster,  to  have  read  all  that  had  been 
printed  ;  to  have  been  a  recipient  of  all  useful  or  entertaining 
traditionary  lore,  and  to  be  ignorant  of  nothing  suited  to 
strengthen  the  mind  of  man  or  chastely  to  adorn  it.  A 
keener  and  more  profound  observer  of  human  life  I  do  not 
expect  to  meet.  He  was  able  to  adapt  himself  without  ap- 
parent effort  to  all  the  classes  of  society  with  which  the  acci- 
dents of  his  varied  and  somewhat  eccentric  career,  of  neces- 
sity, brought  him  into  association,  and  he  as  seldom  gave 
offense  in  his  intercourse  with  mankind  as  any  individual  that 
can  be  mentioned.  In  conversation  he  was  ready,  instructive 
and  entertaining,  and  occasionally  related  anecdotes  with  a 
serene  and  quiet  facetiousness  which  those  who  listened  to 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     I99 

him  found  it  difficult  to  forget.  Such  rare  abiUties  and  such 
shining  accomplishments  did  not  fail  to  awaken  envy  in  some, 
and  incite  others  to  illiberal  and  malevolent  strictures.  It 
would  have  been,  indeed,  surprising  had  such  a  man  escaped 
calumny,  since  we  all  well  know  that 

He  who  surpasses  or  subdues  mankind, 
Must  look  down  upon  the  luite  of  those  below. 

He  was,  whilst  yet  living,  freely  charged  with  being  a 
libertine  and  thousands  who  only  heard  of  him  at  second  hand 
adjudged  him  guilty  of  sensualism  and  immorality  in  their 
worst  and  most  degrading  forms,  just  as  Lord  Somers,  the 
illustrious  British  chancellor,  had  been  more  than  a  century 
before.  That  Colonel  Grimes  was  not  exactly  a  puritan, 
either  in  his  religious  creed  or  in  his  habits  of  life,  is  alto- 
gether certain ;  and  that  he  displayed  a  keen  relish  for  sev- 
eral indulgences  not  by  any  means  in  consonance  with  the 
lofty  aspirations  which  he  cherished  and  the  elevated  social 
position  which  he  held,  it  would  be  dishonest  to  deny.  But 
I  am  confident  that  there  was  no  period  of  his  life  in  which 
he  was  addicted  to  habitual  excesses  of  any  kind,  of  a  nature 
calculated  to  degrade  or  enfeeble  his  intellecual  faculties, 
seriously  to  diminish  his  dignity  as  a  leading  and  influential 
member  of  society,  or  to  impede  his  progress  in  knowledge. 
He  maintained  his  ascendency  at  the  bar  so  long  as  he 
continued  in  life,  and  some  of  his  latest  forensic  efforts  are 
acknowledged  to  have  been  his  best.  Colonel  Grimes, 
whilst  he  always  placed  a  due  estimate  upon  the  opinions  of 
the  more  enlightened  and  upright  of  his  own  day  and  gen- 
eration, is  known  to  have  had  little  respect  at  any  time  either 
for  the  commendations  of  the  shallow  and  superficial,  or  the 
praises  of  the  dissolute  and  corrupt.  He  was  perhaps  less  a 
seeker  of  what  is  called  popularity  than  any  public  man  of 
his  time.  He  was  scarcely  ever  known  to  speak  in  reference 
to  his  associates  or  cotemporaries  in  terms  either  of  decided 
laudation  or  of  unqualified  censure.  No  man  was  ever  more 
indifferent  to  the  verdict  of  coming  generations  upon 
himself  or   aught   that   appertained   to   him,  than  was  tliis 


200     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

singularly  constituted  individual,  and  the  huzzas  of  the  pro- 
miscuous and  often  ill-judging  populace  had  no  music  for  his 
ear  or  inspiration  for  his  well-regulated  soul.  He  was  far, 
indeed,  from  being  a  misanthrope,  and  had  seldom  if  ever 
shown  that  he  could  retain  in  his  lofty  and  heroic  bosom  the  ig- 
noble and  debasing  sentiment  of  bitter  personal  hate.  Though 
not  at  all  unkind  and  repulsive  in  his  manners,  and  not  by  any 
means  neglectful  of  the  obligations  of  personal  friendship,  it  is 
doubtful  whether  he  ever  had  a  half-dozen  perfectly  confidcii- 
tial  friends  at  any  period  of  his  career.  I  am  quite  satisfied 
that  had  he  known  himself  to  be  ever  so  cruelly  calumniated 
by  the  ordinary  newspapers  of  the  country,  he  would  not 
have  been  deprived  of  the  smallest  portion  of  that  sublime 
composure  of  spirit  in  which  he  luxuriated  so  unbrokenly,  or 
of  that  lofty  and  somewhat  austere  self-respect  which  he  felt 
to  be  securely  bottomed  upon  a  thorough  knowledge  of  him- 
self, his  attributes  and  his  capabilities. 

In  the  evening  of  life,  and  only  a  year  or  two  previous  to 
his  decease,  he  was  brought  for  the  first  and  only  time  into  a 
conflict  at  the  bar  with  the  celebrated  S.  S.  Prentiss,  in  a  case 
of  the  greatest  magnitude  and  difficulty.  James  Erwin,  for 
many  years  one  of  the  most  influential  citizens  in  New  Or- 
leans, who  had  been  at  one  time  reputed  to  be  very  wealthy, 
and  who,  moreover,  was  son-in-law  to  the  illustrious  Henry 
Clay,  was  the  defendant  in  a  suit  which  deeply  involved  both 
his  estate  and  character.  He  stood  charged  with  pecuniary 
fraud  of  a  peculiarly  dishonoring  nature.  Mr.  Prentiss  had 
been  employed  to  conduct  the  prosecution;  Mr.  Grimes 
appeared  for  the  defense.  The  trial  attracted  a  vast  assem- 
blage, and  the  public  curiosity  was  intensely  roused.  Two 
such  combatants  had  never  before  met  upon  that  arena.  Two 
men  more  strikingly  contrasted  to  each  other  in  several  im- 
portant respects  could  scarcely  be  imagined. 

Injustice  to  Mr.  Prentiss,  it  should  be  mentioned  that,  at 
the  time  of  this  celebrated  encounter,  he  was  in  a  wretched 
physical  condition.  His  health  had  been  undermined  by 
causes  the  destructive  power  of  which  no  human  constitution 
has  ever  been  able  to  withstand.    Pecuniary  troubles,  too,  had 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     20I 

gathered  about  him,  of  a  most  depressing  and  paralyzing 
■character.  Dire  necessity  had  forced  him  to  leave  the  State 
of  Mississippi,  where  he  had  so  long  resided,  and  where  he 
was  yet  so  loved  and  honored  by  a  generous  and  appreciative 
population,  for  some  new  and  more  propitious  theatre  where 
his  extraordinary  abilities  might  find  ample  and  multiplied 
opportunities  for  display.  His  nervous  system  had  been 
-seriously  disturbed.  He  had  to  some  extent  lost  that  con- 
trol of  his  temper  so  necessary  to  complete  success  in  all 
the  more  important  undertakings  of  life.  He  spoke  on  this 
occasion  with  far  more  than  his  accustomed  fervor  and  vehe- 
mence. His  imagination  displayed  itself  with  all  tliat  mar- 
vellous grandeur  and  gorgeousness  which  had  given  to  him  so 
large  a  portion  of  his  oratorical  fame.  He  was  humorous; 
he  was  witty;  he  was  bitterly  sarcastic.  His  denunciatory 
potency  was  such  as  both  to  astonish  and  electrify.  In  the 
liighest  state  of  excitement,  he  forgot  himself  so  far  as  to 
utter  reproachful  and  insulting  epithets,  which  the  facts  in 
proof  did  by  no  means  justify.  He  closed  with  one  of  the 
most  thundering  and  soul-rousing  perorations  which  ever  was 
heard  in  a  court-house.  He  had  made  a  wondrously  eloquent 
speech ;  but,  so  far  from  having  gained  a  victory  worthy  of 
his  high  reputation,  he  had  only  opened  to  his  veteran  and 
perfectly  self-balanced  antagonist  an  opportunity,  in  one  short 
half  hour,  to  respond  triumphantly  to  all  his  utterances,  and 
to  impress  conviction  upon  the  minds  of  those  in  hearing,  of 
the  gross  injustice  with  which  his  client  had  been  treated,  and 
of  the  vast  superiority  in  all  forensic  contests  of  moment,  of 
cold  and  passionless  logic — set  off  and  embellished  with  a 
show  of  perfect  good  nature,  the  appearance  of  sincerity  and 
conscientiousness,  and  a  charmful  complaisance  of  manner — 
over  all  the  splendors  of  unregulated  genius — deformed  and 
enfeebled  by  misplaced  declamatory  energy,  and  overstrained 
efforts  to  excite,  to  dazzle,  and  to  delude. 

Of  all  the  advocates  that  New  Orleans  has  known,  next  to 
John  R.  Grimes  was  unquestionably  Pierre  Soule.  I  heard 
Mr.  Soule  address  a  mixed  French  and  English  jury  in  New 
Orleans,  nearly  fifty  years  ago,  with  a  brilliancy  and  effective- 


202     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

ness  which  I  have  seldom  known  surpassed.  He  spoke  most 
felicitously,  both  in  his  native  tongue  and  in  that  of  his 
adopted  country.  It  was  evident  that  his  education  before 
leaving  France  had  been  faithfully  attended  to,  and  that,  after 
reaching  this  country,  he  had  neglected  no  opportunity  of 
improving  his  intellect  and  ripening  his  literary  taste.  In 
person  he  was  supposed  strikingly  to  resemble  the  elder 
Napoleon.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  the  greatest  affability; 
noble  and  elevated  in  all  his  sentiments;  of  a  most  generous 
and  enthusiastic  nature,  and  eminently  calculated  to  acquire 
friends  and  to  command  confidence  in  any  enlightened  and  well 
regulated  community.  He  had  much  reputation  for  general 
scholarship,  and  was  supposed  by  those  who  knew  him  best, 
to  be  by  no  means  deficient  in  legal  learning. 

Judah  P.  Benjamin  is  said  to  be  a  native  of  the  Island  of 
St.  Thomas.  He  practised  law  for  many  years  most  success- 
fully in  the  city  of  New  Orleans.  His  person  is  not  at  all 
prepossessing,  and  his  manners  are  lacking  both  in  modesty 
and  gentlemanly  refinement ;  but  in  the  discussion  of  a  strictly 
legal  question  his  excellence  is  positively  beyond  criticism ; 
and  he  writes  with  a  beauty,  chasteness  and  vigor,  of  which 
Lord  Mansfield  himself  might  be  justly  proud.  His  profes- 
sional attainments  are  of  a  high  order,  and  in  knowledge  of 
general  literature  he  is  inferior  to  but  few  of  his  cotemporaries. 

John  A.  Slidell  was  for  many  years  associated  with  Mr. 
Benjamin  in  the  practice  of  law;  and  these  gentlemen  pub- 
lished, under  their  joint  names,  many  years  since,  a  digest  of 
the  judicial  decisions  of  Louisiana,  which  has  been  regarded 
as  a  work  evincing  much  intelligence  and  judgment.  Mr. 
Slidell,  whom  I  chanced  to  know  very  well,  was  a  man  of 
singular  vivacity  of  temperament,  exceedingly  astute  and  dex- 
trous in  dealing  with  men  of  all  classes,  and  strongly  sus- 
pected of  not  being  over-scrupulous  in  the  use  of  means 
adapted  to  the  attainment  of  his  coveted  objects.  He  con- 
versed with  ease  and  sprightliness,  made  no  professions  of 
special  political  purity,  evinced  the  utmost  pertinacity  in  the 
pursuit  of  his  various  projects,  and  often  avowed,  in  connec- 
tion with  public  affairs,  motives  of  action  such  as  prdinary- 


BENXH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     2O3 

politicians,  if  swayed  by  them,  deemed  it  expedient  to  con- 
ceal. He  was  not  at  all  blessed  with  the  higher  powers  of 
eloquence,  and  neither  at  the  bar  nor  in  Congress  was  recog- 
nized as  anything  more  than  a  mediocre  speaker. 

Seth  Barton  was  a  native  of  Virginia  and  belonged  to  a 
large  and  influential  connection.  No  little  attention  was  paid 
to  his  early  education,  and  he  evinced  signs  of  intellectual 
promise  ere  he  left  the  neighborhood  of  his  birth,  which 
caused  many  to  predict  his  future  distinction.  I  first  knew 
him  as  a  leading  member  of  the  Alabama  bar,  and  an  elo- 
quent and  influential  member  of  her  state  legislature.  After 
this  he  became  a  candidate  for  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives in  Congress,  and  delivered  a  number  of  popular  ad- 
dresses in  that  character,  which  I  well  remember  to  have 
been  greatly  admired  and  lauded  at  that  period.  He  re- 
moved to  the  City  of  New  Orleans  in  the  winter  of  1831, 
where  he  remained  for  many  years,  and  where  he  attained 
much  reputation  both  as  an  advocate  and  a  political  writer. 
His  mind  was  not  remarkable  for  quickness  or  agility,  but  in 
solidity  and  strength  of  reasoning  he  was  excelled  by  few  of 
his  competitors  for  forensic  fame.  He  was  profoundly  versed 
in  the  principles  of  the  English  common  law,  and  he  is  one 
of  a  very  few  persons  whom  I  have  known  to  take  delight 
in  the  ancient  black-letter  authorities,  and  to  be  enthusiastic 
in  his  admiration  of  the  darkest  and  most  complex  chapters 
of  Coke  upon  Littleton.  His  physical  frame  was  one  of  un- 
common vigor ;  he  was  not  a  little  distinguished  for  personal 
bravery,  and  he  possessed  such  a  manly  and  independent  soul 
as  rendered  it  impossible  that  he  should  stoop  to  the  practice 
of  servility,  or  resort  to  low  and  oblique  expedients  for  his 
own  advancement.  His  powers  of  condensation  were  such 
as  caused  him  often  to  be  warmly  commended  by  those  who 
listened  to  him  in  cases  of  importance  and  difficulty ;  but 
yet,  strange  to  say,  he,  like  Mr.  Burke,  sometimes  spoke  at 
such  prodigious  length,  and  with  such  copiousness  of  illustra- 
tion, that  his  hearers  were  painfully  fatigued  with  his  masterly 
but  tedious  utterances. 

Mr.  Barton  was  called  by  President  Polk  to  officiate  as 


.204     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

solicitor  of  the  treasury,  in  which  position  he  conducted  him- 
self in  a  manner  so  satisfactory,  that  he  was  in  a  few  months 
sent  to  Chili  as  minister  plenipotentiary  to  that  Republic. 
On  his  return  he  wrote  a  number  of  able  and  earnest  articles 
for  the  Washington  newspapers  in  opposition  to  the  com- 
promise measures  of  that  period,  which,  though  marked  with 
his  accustomed  ability,  did  not  add  at  all  to  his  popularity, 
.and  were  in  truth  not  very  extensively  read. 

Having  been  a  practitioner  of  law  for  some  time  in  the  City 
of  New  Orleans,  and  in  several  of  the  northern  parishes  of 
Louisiana,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  being  a  good  deal  in  var- 
ious courts  of  the  state,  and  of  forming  more  or  less  acquaint- 
ance with  a  considerable  number  of  those  engaged  in  the  dis- 
charge of  judicial  functions.  Were  I  to  take  it  upon  myself 
to  pass  upon  the  comparative  merits  of  such  personages  as 
Martin  and  Porter,  Bullard  and  Eustis,  and  their  learned  and 
■venerated  cojifreres  of  the  bench,  I  should  be  justly  regarded 
.as  not  a  little  presumptuous  and  immodest.  The  opinions 
■delivered  by  them,  running  through  a  long  series  of  years, 
upon  questions  of  the  utmost  dignity  and  moment,  have 
long  since  gained  the  highest  consideration  and  respect 
.among  the  most  renowned  juris-consults  both  of  America 
and  Europe.  I  cannot  consent  though  to  overlook  the  fact 
that  the  judges  of  Louisiana  when  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
knowing  them  familiarly,  were  quite  as  much  distinguished  for 
their  stertling  integrity,  their  lofty  patriotism,  and  their  gen- 
tlemanly urbanity  and  refinement  as  for  their  erudition  and  in- 
tellectual profundity.  I  can  recollect  only  one  instance  of 
marked  deviation  from  the  pathway  of  honor  among  the 
grave  dispensers  of  justice  in  this  once  prosperous  and  happy 
commonwealth,  and  the  prompt  reprobation  and  disgrace  in- 
flicted upon  the  offender  in  this  instance,  with  the  hearty 
•consent  of  his  official  associates,  and  the  universal  approval 
of  all  good  citizens,  render  even  this  solitary  case  of  flagrant 
dereliction,  almost  as  much  a  subject  of  gratulation  as  of 
censure  and  lamentation. 

There  are  many  bright  names  upon  the  roll  of  attorneys 
in  Louisiana,  the  mention  of  which,  in  this  cursory  and  im- 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     2O5. 

perfect  review,  I  find  myself  compelled  to  pretermit.  But 
there  is  one  illustrious  individual  yet  surviving  upon  whose 
career  and  character  I  feel  inclined  to  offer  here  a  few  obser- 
vations. I  allude  to  the  Honorable  John  A.  Campbell,  form- 
erly one  of  the  associate  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States.  This  gentleman  is  a  native  of  Georgia. 
His  father  was  many  years  ago  well  known  as  an  eminent 
jurist  in  that  state.  Judge  Campbell  located  in  the  City  of 
Mobile  when  yet  a  very  young  man,  and  there  quickly  rose 
to  distinction.  When  elevated  to  a  seat  upon  the  bench  of 
the  highest  judicial  tribunal  known  to  our  constitution  and 
laws,  his  great  and  universally  acknowledged  abilities  at  once 
attracted  to  him  the  general  admiration  of  his  countrymen. 
His  juridical  learning  has  never  been  disputed.  His  mind  is 
at  once  active,  penetrating,  of  marvellous  expansive  energy, 
of  the  firmest  and  most  comprehensive  grasp,  and  he  is  en- 
dowed with  a  clearness  of  conception  and  a  subtle  astuteness 
of  discrimination,  which  completely  set  at  defiance  all  the 
arts  of  sophistical  deception,  and  all  the  efforts  to  substitute 
passion  and  prejudice  in  the  place  of  reason  and  justice. 
Some  of  his  dissenting  opinions,  in  cases  of  great  celebrity, 
and  with  which  the  public  is  already  quite  familiar,  will 
be  read  both  with  respect  and  gratitude  long  after  the  lips 
from  which  they  emanated  shall  have  been  closed  in  death. 
I  shall  ever  recognize  it  as  one  of  the  most  deplorable  events 
in  American  history  that  Judge  Campbell  was  induced,  either 
by  the  taunts  of  enemies,  or  the  injudicious  persuasions  of 
excited  friends,  to  resign  the  judicial  position  which  he  so 
highly  adorned,  and  where  his  influence  for  good  would  have 
been  so  unquestionable.  Had  he  continued  in  the  perform- 
ance of  the  high  duties  appertaining  to  his  station,  many 
golden  opportunities  would  doubtless  have  been  presented 
to  him  of  mediating  between  his  estranged  and  warring 
countrymen,  by  taking  advantage  of  which  he  might  have 
efficiently  contributed  to  the  correction  of  existing  misun- 
derstandings upon  exciting  sectional  questions,  the  cessation 
of  profitless  and  ruinous  hostilities,  and  that  dreadful  accum- 
ulation of  evils  of  almost  every  description  which  was  after- 


206     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

wards  to  ensue,  and  from  which  the  country  has  not  by  any 
means  yet  altogether  recovered.  When  I  saw  this  highly 
endowed  and  eminently  disinterested  and  patriotic  man,  for 
many  long  and  dreary  months,  patiently  and  quietly  per- 
forming the  duties  of  a  subordinate  position  in  the  War  De- 
partment at  Richmond,  under  the  supervision  of  men  who, 
compared  with  him,  were  mere  pigmies  in  intellect,  I  could 
not  help  mentally  recurring  to  the  noted  case  of  Epaminon- 
das,  in  the  olden  time,  who  was  insultingly  sentenced  to 
sweep  the  streets  of  Thebes  as  a  meet  reward  for  public  ser- 
vices which  all  the  wealth  and  honors  in  the  gift  of  his  stupid 
and  inappreciative  countrymen  would  have  been  able  but 
poorly  and  inadequately  to  requite. 


CHAPTER  X. 

MISCELLANEOUS  FACTS. 

Godfrey  Fogg.  Senior.— Ephriair.  H.  Foster.— Neill  S   Brown.— Judge  McKinney. 

— Judge  Robert  L.  Caruthers — Henry  G.  Smith. — John  A.  Nooe. — Edwin  Yerger. 

Henry  T.  EUett.— Emerson  Etheridge.— Treasurer  Graves. —The  Anti-Gallon  Law  of 
Mississippi. — Its  Faithful  Enforcement  and  Beneficial  Effects.— Its  Repeal,  and  the 
Evils  Resulting  Therefrom. — John  J.  Ormond.— David  Ligon.— Peter  Anderson.— 
James  Deavenport  —Joseph  E.  Davis.— George  W.  Paschal.— Armisted  Burwcll.— 
William  L.  Yancey. —  James  C.  Mitchell. — J.  L.  Alcorn. 

Just  as  I  was  writing  the  closing  words  of  the  last  chapter, 
I  received  intelligence  of  the  decease  of  a  long  valued  pro- 
fessional friend,  of  whose  character  and  career  as  a  member 
of  the  Tennessee  bar  I  propose  at  this  moment  to  take  a 
brief  notice. 

Godfrey  Fogg,  Senior,  was  a  native  of  New  England,  and 
had  there  received  a  liberal  education.  He  located  at  Nash- 
ville, some  years  subsequent  to  his  elder  brother — elsewhere 
in  this  work  favorably  noticed  by  me — and  almost  imme- 
diately became  possessed  of  a  paying  practice.  In  connection 
with  the  late  Ephriam  H.  Foster,  he  enjoyed  a  large  collect- 
ing business,  in  which  he  conspicuously  evinced  all  the  qual- 
ities needful  to  success  in  that  branch  of  his  chosen  profession. 
Mr.  Fogg  possessed  few  of  the  graces  of  oratory,  but  he 
always  displayed  in  his  speeches  in  court  soundness  and  vigor 
of  intellect,  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  case  which  he  was 
arguing,  an  adequate  fund  of  legal  erudition,  and  the  utmost 
serenity  of  temper  and  courtesy  of  manner.  He  lived  and 
died  without  a  spot  upon  his  reputation  as  a  man,  and  his 
sudden  and  unexpected  decease  has  left  a  chasm  in  society 
difficult  to  be  supplied.  Just  four  months  ago,  I  was  con- 
versing with  this  sociable  and  communicative  gentleman  con- 
cerning a  number  of  his  professional  associates  of  former 
years,  and  it  is  with  pleasure  that  I  acknowledge  myself  in- 
debted to  him  for  a  considerable  number  of  the  most  striking 
facts  which  I  have  heretofore  detailed. 


208     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

I  had  the  honor  of  knowing  Ephriam  H.  Foster  personally, 
but  not  very  intimately.  He  was  a  maa  of  most  command- 
ing person,  of  most  winning  manners,  and  of  exuberant 
animal  spirits.  It  was  almost  impossible  to  know  him  and 
not  to  love  him,  and  his  name  will  continue  to  be  remembered 
with  affection  and  esteem  among  all  those  whose  good  fortune 
it  was  to  be  thrown  into  social  intercourse  with  him.  He  was 
a  man  of  high  courage,  of  the  utmost  frankness  and  liberality 
of  temper,  and  of  consummate  tact  in  the  management  of 
men.  He  was  for  many  years  a  leading  and  influential  poli- 
tician in  Tennessee,  and,  during  his  short  period  of  official 
service  in  the  national  Senate,  commanded  alike  the  affec- 
tionate esteem  and  confidence  of  his  own  party  allies,  and  the 
cordial  regard  of  those  with  whom  he  was  thrown  into  con- 
flict. Mr.  Foster  could  scarcely  have  failed  to  attain  the 
highest  rank  in  every  department  of  his  profession,  had  he 
not  been  persuaded  to  enter  the  political  field,  and  to  devote 
himself  somewhat  more  than  is  customary  among  the  eager 
seekers  of  forensic  eminence  to  the  more  congenial  pursuits 
of  social  life,  for  which  he  was  so  transcendently  fitted. 

A  gentleman  is  still  residing  in  the  city  of  Nashville  and 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  as  a  lawyer,  who 
has  such  peculiar  claims  to  the  public  regard,  alike  as  an  em- 
inent member  of  the  bar  and  otherwise,  as  to  deserve  more 
than  a  passing  allusion,  especially  at  the  hands  of  one  who 
has  so  long  loved  and  honored  him  as  I  have  done.  Neill  S. 
Brown,  in  many  important  respects,  is  undoubtedly  one  of 
the  most  marked  and  interesting  persons  of  the  present  age. 
His  early  education  was  not  as  complete  as  would  have  been 
desirable,  but  it  was  sufficient  to  supply  an  ample  foundation 
for  that  superstructure  of  general  knowledge  which  many 
years  of  successful  diligence  have  enabled  the  subject  of  this 
notice  to  acquire.  A  readier  or  more  showy  speaker  than  ex- 
Governor  Brown  is  nowhere  to  be  found  upon  this  continent. 
He  is  endowed  with  a  lively  and  fervid  imagination,  chastened 
by  laborious  self-culture  and  judicious  training.  His  percep- 
tive powers  are  of  a  very  high  grade,  and  he  is  by  no  means 
deficient  in  logical  clearness  and  force,  though  his  rich  and 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     2O9 

brilliant  thoughts  are  not  always  methodized  and  presented  in 
an  orderly  manner,  in  accordance  with  the  stricter  maxims  of 
the  schools,  and  render  him  a  little  more  discursive  at  times 
than  modern  courts  of  justice  are  inclined  to  approve.  He 
is  most  respectably  informed  in  the  various  departments  of 
his  chosen  profession,  and  there  are  but  few  branches  of 
knowledge,  either  theoretical  or  practical,  to  which  he  has 
not  given  more  or  less  attention.  He  has  been  long  renowned 
as  a  popular  debater,  and  in  several  of  the  political  canvasses 
in  which  he  has  been  formerly  engaged,  is  remembered  to 
have  displayed  controversial  powers  such  as  commanded 
respect  and  commendation  far  beyond  the  limits  of  Tennes- 
see. He  has  the  happiest  command  of  his  own  temper,  in 
the  midst  of  the  most  heated  political  contest,  and  possesses 
a  promptitude  and  felicity  in  repartee  which  give  him  a  great 
advantage  ,over  any  slow  and  drowsy  antagonist.  A  finer 
model  of  serene  and  gentlemanly  urbanity  in  private  inter- 
course it  would  be  difficult  to  find.  This  well-known  personage 
has  in  former  days  held  various  important  official  positions, 
both  under  State  and  under  Federal  authority,  in  all  of  which 
his  conduct  has  been  such  as  to  secure  general  respect  and 
commendation.  Tennessee  has  no  surviving  son  of  whom 
she  should  be  more  justly  proud;  for,  in  addition  to  his  long- 
continued  public  serv'ices,  his  devoted  patriotism,  and  his  sage 
and  unswerving  patriotism,  he  has  given  to  the  world  such  an 
example  of  virtue  in  private  and  social  life  as  has  caused 
more  than  one  of  his  contemporaries  to  compare  him  ta 
Scipio  Nasica,  who  was  adjudged  by  the  Roman  Senate  and 
people  to  be  the  best  citizen  of  that  renowned  republic.  To- 
Governor  Brown,  more  than  to  any  one  individual  whom  I 
could  now  name,  is  the  State  of  Tennessee  indebted  for  her 
present  civil  quietude  and  the  general  diffusion  of  that  spirit 
of  amity  and  confraternity  which  so  nobly  distinguishes  her 
people. 

The  recent  decease  of  Judge  McKinney,  who  was  for  so 
many  years  a  distinguished  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Tennessee,  has  suggested  to  my  mind  the  propriety  of  speak- 
ing briefly  in  commemoration  of  his  many  virtues  and  official 


210     BENXH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

services.  Judge  McKinney  was  born  in  Ireland,  but  the 
whole  period  of  his  mature  manhood  was  spent  among  the 
romantic  and  healthful  hills  and  valleys  of  East  Tennessee. 
His  arguments  at  the  bar  were  always  remarkable  for  their 
logical  force  and  precision,  their  singular  and  commendable 
perspicuity,  their  freedom  from  all  circumlocution  or  mere 
parade  of  words,  and  were  occasionally  tinctured  with  some- 
thing approaching  to  sarcasm  and  irony.  On  the  bench  he 
was  diligent,  pains-taking,  and  unrelaxing  in  his  labors,  as 
his  reported  opinions  so  satisfactorily  attest.  He  was  ac- 
cused of  being  occasionally  a  little  too  stern  and  austere  in 
his  demeanor  towards  the  members  of  the  bar,  and  was,  as  I 
should  judge,  not  a  little  inclined  to  constrain  attorneys  to 
avoid  everything  at  all  approaching  to  a  superfluity  of  illus- 
tration. I  am  told,  and  believe  it  to  be  true,  that  the  Judge 
on  one  occasion  found,  in  his  effort  to  circumscribe  discus- 
sion, that  he  had  exposed  himself  to  a  wordy  infliction  which 
he  had  not  at  all  anticipated,  and  of  which  he  could  not  de- 
cently complain.  A  very  worthy  barrister,  now  residing  in 
Nashville,  and  who  was  really  not  at  all  inclined  to  be  over- 
troublesome  to  the  court,  was  one  day  discussing  a  somewhat 
complex  land  case  in  the  Supreme  Court,  when  Judge 
McKinney,  fearing  that  he  might  become  a  little  tedious, 
and  desirous  of  hinting  to  him  the  expediency  of  not  at- 
tempting too  grand  a  display  of  recondite  learning — leaning 
forward  from  the  bench,  with  something  of  a  cheerful  smile 
upon  his  face,  inquired  of  my  stalwart  and  imperturbable 
friend,  Major  Fare  (who  was  then  addressing  him),  whether  it 
had  chanced  to  him  in  his  extended  legal  researches  ever  to 
have  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  memorable  discus- 
sions in  England  of  the  famous  "Shelley  case?"  "Oh!"  cried 
the  indefatigable  Major,  "  I  can  assure  your  Honor  that  I 
have  fully  mastered  all  the  learning  of  the  Shelley  case,  of 
which  fact  I  am  prepared  to  lay  before  the  court  the  most 
indubitable  evidence."  After  which  the  undismayed  advo- 
cate, with  all  due  formality,  pulled  from  one  of  his  coat- 
pockets  a  stout  roll  of  paper,  upon  which  he  had  carefully 
written  out  his  own  views  upon  the  "  Shelley  case"  in  the 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     211 

most  minute  and  elaborate  manner.  This  he  commenced 
reading  with  most  stoical  composure  (being  evidently  not  a 
little  pleased  at  the  opportunity  which  had  been  so  unex- 
pectedly afforded  him  of  ventilating  his  learning),  to  the  ex- 
tent of  some  fifteen  or  twenty  closely-written  pages.  This 
remarkable  scene  produced  much  amusement  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  bar,  the  by-standers  and  all  the  judges  them- 
selves, saving  indeed,  Judge  McKinney,  who  is  described  as 
having  evinced  on  the  occasion  an  amount  of  restlessness  and 
chagrin  not  at  all  in  keeping  with  his  customary  calmness 
and  equanimity. 

Whilst  Judge  McKinney  was  on  the  bench  he  was  inti- 
mately associated  with  a  gentleman,  now  far  advanced  in 
years,  but  who  has  long  been  admitted  in  Tennessee  to  be 
one  of  the  most  learned  jurists  that  has  ever  presided  in  her 
courts.  I  allude  to  the  Honorable  Robert  L.  Caruthers,  now, 
and  for  many  years  past,  the  chief  law  professor  of  the  Leba- 
non University.  It  is  due  to  Judge  Caruthers  to  state  that 
he  took  a  leading  part  in  the  establishment  of  this  famous 
institution  of  learning,  and  has  for  many  years  watched  over 
its  interests  with  a  tender  fidelity  and  vigilance  which  have 
known  no  intermission.  It  is  but  moderate  praise  to  say  of 
this  venerable  person  that  the  whole  legal  fraternity  of  Tennes- 
see have  long  recognized  him  as  a  man  of  profound  judicial 
learning,  of  indomitable  industry,  of  unsurpassed  public 
spirit,  and  as  peculiarly  qualified  by  temper,  by  manners,  and 
by  reason  of  his  admirable  tact  in  the  communication  of  in- 
struction, for  the  dignified  and  responsible  position  which  he 
holds. 

I  know  of  not  a  single  member  of  the  present  bar  of  Mem- 
phis with  whom  I  have  been  so  long  acquainted  as  the  Hon- 
orable Henry  G.  Smith.  His  learning  and  ability  have  been 
displayed  most  conspicuously  both  upon  the  bench  and  at 
the  bar.  Amidst  the  terrible  trials  and  sufferings  through  which 
the  state  of  Tennessee  has  been  fated  to  pass  during  the  last 
fifteen  years.  Judge  Smith  has  uniformly  conducted  himself 
with  such  discretion,  such  dignity,  and  such  decorum  as  to 
win  both  the  affection  and  esteem  of  all  who  were  observers 


212     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

of  his  acts.  No  one  could  have  given  higher  evidences  than 
he  has  done  of  courage  mingled  with  forbearance,  love  of 
country  tempered  with  moderation,  and  detestation  of  vice 
softened  and  regulated  by  feelings  of  a  generous  and  refined 
humanity.  The  numerous  friends  and  admirers  of  this  sober- 
minded  and  well-balanced  personage  have  been  expecting, 
for  several  years,  some  adequate  recognition  of  his  qualifica- 
tions and  services  at  the  hands  of  the  administration  now  in 
power.  Whether  a  man  of  such  eminent  modesty  and  dis- 
interestedness is  destined  to  become  the  recipient  of  official 
favor  in  these  times  of  turmoil  and  confusion,  when  so  many 
of  less  delicacy  and  self-respect  are  unblushingly  struggling 
for  places  which  they  are  not  at  all  qualified  to  fill,  is  a  ques- 
tion which  I  am  not  at  all  prepared  to  solve. 

The  accomplished  and  amiable  wife  of  Judge  Smith  I  have 
known  in  former  years  as  the  affectionate  help-mate  of  one 
of  the  most  devoted  personal  friends  I  have  ever  known — 
the  late  John  A.  Nooe.  Of  this  loved  and  honored  gentle- 
man I  can  scarcely  speak  without  a  tear.  I  knew  him  from 
early  boyhood,  and  was  once  connected  with  him  in  busi- 
ness as  a  member  of  the  Memphis  bar.  A  higher-toned 
gentleman  I  never  met.  His  temper  was  as  mild  and  affec- 
tionate as  if  he  had  belonged  to  the  gentler  sex.  His  coun- 
tenance beamed  with  benignity ;  his  sincerity  was  never 
called  in  question  ;  his  justice  was  as  unbending  as  that  of 
Cato  himself.  Judge  Nooe  was  a  lawyer  of  much  reading, 
and  could  effectively  apply  the  learning  he  had  acquired. 
His  diffidence  in  public  was  a  serious  draw-back  upon  his 
complete  success  as  a  forensic  advocate  ;  though  he  always 
spoke  with  striking  good  sense  and  in  language  both  chaste 
and  elegant,  and  as  a  draftsman  of  all  legal  papers  he  was 
particularly  skilful  and  accurate.  I  can  honestly  affirm  that 
this  excellent  gentleman  grew  in  my  affection  and  esteem  up 
even  to  the  moment  of  his  lamented  decease. 

Edwin  Yerger  was  a  member  of  that  worthy  and  noted 
family  of  which  I  have  heretofore  had  occasion  repeatedly 
to  speak.  He  was  introduced  to  me  in  the  very  beginning 
of  his  brilliant  professional  career,  and  I  was  at  that  time 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     21 3 

most  favorably  impressed  in  regard  both  to  his  abihties  and 
moral  qualities.  He  was  decidedly  a  man  of  genius ;  and 
of  this  he  gave  such  evidence  in  his  daily  exhibitions  at  the 
bar  as  to  place  his  fame  both  as  a  jurist  and  advocate,  upon 
a  foundation  too  firm  to  be  now  shaken.  Nothing  could  ex- 
ceed his  liveliness  and  dexterity  in  the  discussions  of  the 
forum,  his  wonderful  readiness  in  reply,  or  the  immense  fer- 
tility of  his  general  resources.  Had  he  been  of  uniformly 
studious  habits,  and  as  much  devoted  to  his  professional 
avocations  as  he  was  to  the  attractive  pleasures  of  social  life, 
he  undoubtedly  would  have  had  it  in  his  power  to  establish 
an  almost  unequalled  reputation  both  as  a  speaker  and  jurist. 
He  died  in  the  meridian  of  life  whilst  surrounded  by  hosts 
of  sympathizing  and  admiring  friends. 

Henry  T.  Ellet,  now  of  Memphis,  formerly  of  Mississippi, 
has  been  known  to  me  familiarly  for  more  than  thirty-five 
years.  I  had  the  honor  of  being  more  than  once  associated 
with  him,  in  cases  of  no  little  importance,  before  his  eleva- 
tion to  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Mississippi ;  and 
always  found  him  affable,  cordial,  and  gentlemanly.  His 
manners  are  marked  with  a  degree  of  refinement  and  deli- 
cacy not  as  common  as  might  be  desired  among  the  members 
of  the  bar  as  a  class ;  his  temperament  is  one  not  easily  dis- 
composed by  the  ordinary  occurrences  of  professional  life  ; 
he  is  uniformly  courteous,  civil,  and  obliging  in  his  inter- 
course with  the  members  of  his  own  profession  with  whom  he 
is  thrown  into  corftact ;  and  his  labors,  both  as  a  student  and 
legal  practitioner,  are  unremitting ;  leaving  less  time  for  social 
intercourse  than  would  be  desirable  to  others,  and  doubtless 
gratifying  to  himself  Few  men  now  living  have  read  law 
books  with  more  profit  than  Judge  Ellet ;  few  occupants  of 
the  bench  have  enunciated  a  larger  number  of  sound  and 
well  reasoned  opinions;  and  no  juridical  personage,  either 
living  or  dead,  has  given  more  conclusive  evidences  than  he 
has  done,  of  unswerving  personal  integrity,  and  of  the  nicest 
and  most  profound  regard  for  all  that  is  pure,  decorous,  and 
elevated  in  the  administration  of  public  affairs.    • 

I  remember  to  have  been  employed,  many  years  ago,  in 


214     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

connection  with  Judge  Ellet,  to  defend  a  man  charged  with 
sheep-stealing  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  Claiborne  county  in  the 
State  of  Mississippi.  Our  cHent  was  a  man  of  considerable 
wealth  and  able  to  pay  his  counsel  liberal  fees.  He  was  far 
advanced  in  years,  was  a  member  of  the  church,  and  was  of 
a  previous  character  wholly  free  from  reproach.  He  was  ac- 
cused of  having  caused  to  be  caught  and  slain,  in  the  night 
time,  some  fifteen  or  twenty  sheep,  of  a  particularly  valuable 
kind,  belonging  to  one  of  his  nearest  neighbors,  and  of  having 
had  them  buried  upon  his  own  premises.  The  circumstances 
were  such  as  were  calculated  to  awaken  strong  suspicions  of 
the  guilt  of  our  client.  With  the  neighbor  mentioned  he 
had  been  for  some  time  past  at  variance.  The  wagon  of 
Mr.  Wood  (the  alleged  culprit)  was  found  crimsoned  with 
the  blood  of  animals  of  some  kind,  freshly  butchered,  and 
which  had  been  apparently  piled  up  irregularly  in  the  body 
of  the  wagon,  the  tracks  of  which  had  been  distinctly  traced 
from  the  house  of  Mr.  Wood  to  the  place  of  sepulture.  The 
carcasses,  when  exhumed,  were  found  to  bear  the  mark  of 
the  person  referred  to,  though  then  in  a  state  of  incipient 
putrefaction.  The  neighbors  had  collected  about  the  place 
of  burial,  and  the  ghastly  spectacle  which  they  beheld  had 
awakened  intense  excitement  among  them.  Prejudice  against 
our  client  ran  so  high  at  one  time  that  he  stood  in  evident 
danger  of  undergoing  summary  punishment  for  his  supposed 
crime.  A  vast  concourse  attended  the  trial  at  the  court 
house  in  Port  Gibson,  a  few  weeks  after,  but  a  small  number  of 
whom  expected  anything  else  than  an  easy  conviction.  Our 
client  constantly  averred  his  own  innocence,  and  came  into 
court  with  a  countenance  and  manner  which  spoke  strongly 
in  his  favor.  It  was  clear  that  he  must  be  guilty  as  charged 
or  had  been  the  victim  of  a  dark  and  diabolical  conspiracy 
deliberately  set  on  foot  for  his  undoing.  The  latter  hypothe- 
sis was  of  course  the  one  upon  which  the  defence  of  the 
accused  was  made  to  rest.  This  hypothesis  had  to  be  up- 
held by  circumstantial  testimony  alone. 

The  speech  made  by  my  honored  associate  in  the  case  was 
indeed  a  most  masterly  one,  as  had  also  been  his  previous 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     215 

cross-examination  of  the  State's  witnesses.  The  jury  was 
persuaded  to  acquit  our  chent,  who  returned  to  his  own  home 
relieved  from  all  danger  of  incarceration  in  the  penitentiary, 
but  not  by  any  means  restored  to  his  former  good  standing 
in  the  estimation  cf  his  neighbors. 

Emerson  Etheridge  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  accom- 
plished men  that  the  State  of  Tennessee  has  yet  been  able 
to  boast.  He  is  a  most  showy  and  effective  speaker  before 
the  people,  in  legislative  halls,  or  in  courts  of  justice.  He  is 
but  little  past  the  middle  age  of  man  at  this  moment,  has  a 
physical  constitution  of  much  vigor,  is  of  unexceptionable 
habits,  and  is  as  solicitous  as  he  could  have  been  in  earlier 
life  of  all  useful  knowledge,  as  well  as  of  those  accomplish- 
ments which  give  grace  and  attractiveness  to  learning,  and 
win  the  kindly  sympathies  of  the  multitude.  Mr.  Etheridge's 
felicity  in  the  delineation  of  character  is  one  of  his  most  noted 
attributes ;  his  colloquial  powers  are  such  as  to  make  him  the 
charm  of  every  social  circle  into  which  he  enters ;  his  facetious 
sallies  are  often  of  irresistible  potency;  his  illustrations,  when 
he  chooses  to  bring  them  to  his  aid,  are  at  once  copious, 
apposite,  and  full  of  originality.  His  satire,  on  occasions 
demanding  a  resort  to  this  terrible  implement  of  chastisement, 
is  as  bitter  and  all-consuming  as  the  most  successful  of  the 
far-famed  letters  of  Junius;  but,  unlike  the  murderous  ''Stat 
nominis  umbra,"  Mr.  Etheridge  never  stabs  in  the  dark,  or 
skulks  from  the  just  responsibility  of  his  own  aggressive  hos- 
tility. Seldom  has  so  much  native  kindness  of  heart  been 
associated  in  the  same  bosom  with  a  stern  and  unyielding 
sense  of  justice.  His  manliness  and  generosity  are  at  least 
equal  to  his  hatred  for  all  that  is  ignoble  or  degrading.  His 
commiseration  for  the  unavoidable  weakness  of  humankind 
has  as  much  influence  over  his  conduct  as  that  immeasurable 
scorn  to  which  he  has  so  often  given  eloquent  expression 
when  beholding  acts  of  high-handed  villainy,  or  when  called 
upon  to  expose  the  cruel  exactions  of  official  tyranny.  Mr. 
Etheridge  has  been  more  than  ordinarily  successful,  both  as  an 
attorney  and  politician  ;  but  he  is  well  known  equally  to  abhor 
chicane  and  trickery  at  the  bar,  and  corruption  and  knavery 


2l6     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

in  places  of  civil  trust  and  dignity,  and  is,  upon  the  whole, 
far  better  calculated  to  command  the  respect  of  the  unlet- 
tered multitude,  than  to  possess  himself  of  their  sympathy 
and  their  suffrages. 

About  the  year  1842,  or  1843,  a  man,  whose  surname  was 
Graves^  and  whose  christian  name,  having  now  forgotten,  I 
am  not  disposed  to  put  myself  to  the  trouble  of  impressing 
again  upon  my  memory,  found  his  way  into  the  legislature  of 
Mississippi  from  one  of  the  newly  settled  counties  of  the 
state.  He  was  said  to  be  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law,  and 
no  doubt  was  so  to  a  limited  extent.  The  first  time  I  ever 
saw  this  person,  he  was  delivering  a  rampant  and  incoherent 
speech  in  the  Mississippi  House  of  Representatives,  against 
the  then  existing  Anti-Liquor  Law.  I  had  not  listened  to  him 
five  minutes  before  I  discovered  that  he  was  a  demagogue  of 
the  lowest  type.  He  gave  utterance  to  all  the  customary 
clap-trap  suggestions  of  that  class  of  artful  and  dishonest 
political  declaimers  to  which  he  belonged ;  talked  much  and 
vehemently  of  the  sacred  rights  oi  freedom,  handed  down 
from  our  ancestors  ;  denounced  all  sumptuary  laws,  as  hostile 
to  republican  institutions,  and  railed  out  most  vociferously 
against  what  he  described  as  the  inquisitorial  cruelty  of  any 
interference  on  the  part  of  the  government  with  th?  domestic 
and  social  habits  of  the  citizens.  This  individual  was  evi- 
dently of  opinion  that  every  man  in  a  christian  and  civilized 
community,  blessed  with  genuine  freedom,  has  an  unques- 
tionable and  inalienable  natural  right  not  only  to  get  drunk 
himself,  whenever  he  shall  choose  to  do  so,  but  likewise  to 
make  others  drunk  also, — provided,  in  the  latter  case,  the 
government  shall  be  willing  so  far  to  degrade  itself  as  to  guar- 
antee to  certain  of  its  citizens,  for  a  trifling  pecuniary  consid- 
eration, the  noble  and  precious  privilege  of  inciting  their 
fellow  citizens  (by  filling  their  stomachs  with  the  requisite 
quantity  of  alcoholic  stimulants)  to  part  with  their  own  ration- 
ality, and  debauch  their  own  physical  and  moral  nature,  so  as 
to  become  fitted  for  deeds  of  blood  and  violence,  and  for 
nearly  all  the  worst  and  most  degrading  crimes  which  bring 
disgrace  and  ruin  upon  society.     This  wretched  creature  had 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     21/ 

■evidently  never  in  his  life  reflected  that  a  republican  system 
of  government  can  only  be  maintained  by  the  free  and  un- 
trammeled  exercise  of  both  intellect  and  virtue  \  neither  of 
which  can  survive  the  general  prevalence  of  drunkenness. 
He  had  never  learned  that  a  large  majority  of  the  crimes 
which  occur  in  every  community  where  the  sale,  in  small 
quantities,  of  alcoholic  stimulants  is  allowed,  at  tippling  shops 
and  elsewhere,  are  attributable  to  an  accursed  compact  entered 
Into  with  the  government  itself,  which,  for  a  stipulated  sum, 
paid  into  its  treasury,  basely  guarantees  indemnity  to  those 
wretches  who,  for  money's  sake,  are  daily  and  hourly  engaged 
in  distributing  that  which  incites  to  murder,  and  to  almost 
every  crime  that  man  in  his  most  debased  condition  is  found 
capable  of  perpetrating,  and  is  the  chief  cause  of  commercial 
Ijankruptcy,  the  pauperism  of  families,  connubial  wretched- 
ness, deaths  by  apoplexy,  by  paralysis,  by  mania  a  potu,  and 
other  similar  maladies.  The  idea  had  perchance  never  en- 
tered into  his  cranium,  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
most  intellectual  and  cultivated  men  in  this  republic  have 
l)een  disgraced  and  ruined  by  strong  drink  imbibed  at  licensed 
liquor  shops.  But  he  evidently  did  expect  to  grow  popular 
with  drinking  men  everywhere  by  aiding  prominently  in  ob- 
taining the  repeal  of  the  Anti-Gallon  Law ;  and  supposed  that 
in  this  way  he  would  infallibly  enlist  all  the  vendors  of  alcohol 
who  should  thereafter  renew  their  work  of  destruction  upon  the 
5oil  of  Mississippi,  in  support  of  his  own  political  aspirations, 
not  doubting,  perhaps,  that  thus  he  might,  after  a  while,  be 
elevated,  as  the  indomitable  champion  of  freedom,  into  some 
station  of  no  little  dignity  and  emolument,  I  listened  to  this 
man  for  a  few  minutes,  whilst  he  spoke,  and  withdrew  in  dis- 
gust ;  for  I  had  been  most  unfavorably  impressed  by  his  style 
of  delivery ;  his  low  and  grovelling  appeals  to  the  coarsest  sen- 
sual appetites  of  the  community ;  his  cunning  and  impudent 
expression  of  countenance,  and  his  blustrous  self-importance. 
Thanks  to  this  man  and  to  others  of  his  stamp,  the  Anti- 
Liquor  Law  was  repealed;  that  law  which  had  been  faithfully 
and  beneficially  enforced  throughout  the  State  of  Mississippi 
for  more  than  two  years ;  that  law  under  which  honest  and 


2l8     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

enlightened  juries  had  convicted  hundreds  of  lawless  culprits  ;^ 
that  law  the  validity  of  which  had  been  affirmed  by  the 
highest  appellate  court  in  the  State ;  that  law  under  the 
beneficent  influence  of  which  a  whole  people  had  become 
joberized,  and  the  number  of  crimes  and  criminals  undeniably 
diminished  at  least  seventy-five  per  cent.  What  innumerable 
ills  have  flowed  from  the  doing  away  of  this  enactment  in 
the  last  thirty  years,  it  is  in  the  power  of  no  earthly  being  to- 
estimate ! 

It  so  happened  that  this  very  man  Graves  was  a  nominee 
for  the  office  of  treasurer  of  the  State  of  Mississippi,  in  the 
year  1843.  What  exploit,  save  the  one  I  have  named,  gave 
him  this  dubious  honor,  I  have  never  yet  learned.  Some 
facts  connected  with  this  period  are  indelibly  impressed  upoa 
my  mind,  which  I  will  here  recite. 

In  the  heated  political  canvass,  then  occurring,  it  chanced 
that  the  nominated  candidates  of  my  own  political  party  (the 
Democratic)  visited  the  town  in  which  I  resided,  on  a  certain 
occasion,  for  the  purpose  of  addressing  the  people  of  that 
vicinage.  The  celebrated  William  M.  Guin,  General  John 
D.  Freeman,  Governor  Tucker,  and  others,  including  the 
before-named  nominee  for  treasurer,  delivered  speeches  in 
the  courthouse,  to  all  of  which  I  listened.  After  the  meet- 
ing was  at  an  end  I  invited  all  the  state  candidates,  save  one^ 
to  dine  with  me.  When  dinner  was  over,  I  took  the  liberty 
of  saying  to  my  honored  guests  that  whilst  I  should  vote  for 
them  with  pleasure  in  the  coming  election,  I  could  not  sup- 
port Mr.  Graves,  for  there  were  marks  of  obliquity  about 
his  visage  which  I  could  not  behold  without  shuddering.  I 
even  ventured  to  predict  that  this  man,  if  elected  to  the  office 
of  treasurer,  would  purloin  the  money  placed  in  his  charge. 
Well,  Graves  was  elected  treasurer,  and  in  less  than  twelve 
months  from  that  event,  the  people  of  Mississippi  were 
thrown  into  commotion  by  the  startling  intelligence  that 
Graves  had  abstracted  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars of  the  gold  and  silver  in  the  treasury.  A  scrutiny  was 
instituted,  and  this  intelligence  turned  out  to  be  well-founded. 
A  criminal  prosecution  was  immediately  commenced,  and  I 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST     219^ 

Jiad  the  honor  of  being  called  upon  to  aid  the  able  and  ac- 
complished Attorney-General  Freeman  in  bringing  the 
alleged  offender  to  justice.  In  order  to  give  dignity  and 
impressiveness  to  the  proceedings,  Chief  Justice  Sharkey  was 
requested  to  act  as  a  court  of  inquiry.  This  he  consented  to 
do,  and  the  investigation  of  Graves'  case  began  in  the  room 
where  the  supreme  court  of  the  state  ordinarily  held  its  ses- 
sions. The  evidence  adduced  was  overwhelming,  and 
some  of  the  discussions  which  arose  upon  points  involving 
the  competency  of  a  portion  of  the  evidence  disclosed  to  the 
defaulting  treasurer  the  extreme  danger  of  his  position.  The 
court  adjourned  on  a  Saturday  evening,  to  resume  its  session 
on  the  ensuing  Monday  morning.  For  want  of  a  regular 
jail,  the  prisoner  was  committed  to  the  care  of  a  worthy  citi- 
zen, a  I\Ir.  Carr,  who  engaged  to  retain  him  at  his  own  house 
and  bring  him  into  court  again  at  the  proper  time.  During 
the  still  hours  of  a  warm  Sabbath  day  the  wife  of  Graves,  a 
beautiful  and  accomplished  woman,  paid  a  visit  to  her  hus- 
band, was  conducted  to  his  room,  there  exchanged  garments 
with  him,  and  the  prisoner  escaped  in  female  vestments,  as 
several  eminent  heroes  have  been  likewise  known  to  do,  in- 
cluding Charles  the  Fifth  of  Spain,  and  Charles  the  Second 
of  England. 

Thus  was  this  noted  prosecution  brought  to  an  end. 
Graves  succeeded  in  getting  to  Canada.  I  may  properly  add 
here  that  not  a  dollar  of  this  large  amount  was  ever  restored 
to  the  treasury  of  Mississippi  until  the  year  1853,  when,  as 
governor  of  the  state,  empowered  by  a  special  act  to  com- 
promise the  affair,  I  succeeded  in  getting  back  less  than  half 
the  amount  abstracted,  on  condition  of  releasing  the  securi- 
ties on  Graves'  official  bond  as  treasurer  from  the  payment  of 
the  remainder. 

Some  time  in  the  year  1826,  I  formed  an  acquaintane  with 
John  J.  Ormond,  who  was  then  a  resident  of  the  town  of 
Courtland,  in  North  Alabama,  where  he  had  located  some 
five  or  six  years  previously,  and  where  he  had  quickly  estab- 
lished a  high  reputation  as  a  lawyer.  His  professional  rank 
was  altogether  superior  to  that  of  any  attorney  in  that  par- 


220     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

ticular  section  of  country,  and  he  enjoyed  the  general  re- 
spect and  confidence  of  the  community  to  an  extent  corres- 
ponding with  his  success  in  his  profession.  He  was  a  man 
of  much  vivacity  and' vigor  of  intellect,  was  thoroughly  in- 
formed in  everything  appertaining  to  juridical  learning,  and 
spoke  at  the  bar  with  a  pointedness  and  force  which  always 
commanded  the  fullest  attention  of  both  court  and  jury.  He 
had  no  talent  for  declamation,  and  always  confined  himself 
•closely  to  the  facts  and  principles  involved.  His  appearance 
and  manners  were  those  of  a  polished  and  well-bred  gentle- 
man, and  there  was  a  dignity  and  stateliness  about  him,  both 
in  court  and  elsewhere,  which  seemed  to  justify  the  supposi- 
tion that  he  had  been  both  born  and  nurtured  in  the  higher 
ranks  of  society.  Yet  it  is  now  quite  well  known  that  he  had 
been  a  maker  of  boots  and  shoes  in  the  days  of  opening 
manhood,  and  had  evinced  much  skill  in  this  useful  calling. 
He  had  at  one  time  resided  in  the  town  of  Charlottesville,  in 
Virginia;  but  whether  he  was  born  there,  or  in  one  of  the 
Northern  states,  has  never  been  distinctly  ascertained.  He 
afterwards  became  one  of  the  Supreme  Judges  of  Alabama, 
and  is  known  to  have  delivered  a  number  of  able  and  learned 
opinions  from  the  bench  which  are  yet  much  respected  as 
authority.  In  all  the  social  and  domestic  relations  Judge 
Ormond  was  a  model  of  propriety,  and  he  left  behind  him  a 
reputation  for  uprightness  and  patriotism  of  which  his  descen- 
dants may  well  be  proud.  The  last  time  I  saw  this  excel- 
lent gentleman  was  in  the  month  of  November,  1851,  when 
on  my  way  to  Washington,  after  having  succeeded  as  a 
Union  candidate  for  the  office  of  Governor  of  Mississippi, 
over  Jeff.  Davis.  Passing  through  the  City  of  Montgomery, 
I  was  invited  to  address  the  members  of  the  Alabama  Legis- 
lature and  the  citizens  of  Montgomery,  in  the  state  capitol, 
upon  the  political  questions  then  pending,  which  I  did ;  after 
which  I  spent  some  four  or  five  hours  in  confidential  con- 
verse with  Judge  Ormond  in  his  own  room,  and  heard  with 
profound  respect  many  sage  remarks  from  his  lips,  which  I 
am  sure  I  shall  never  forget.  He  was  a  broad-minded  and 
enlightened  statesman,  and  a  firm  and  earnest  devotee  to  the 
Federal  Union. 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     22  F 

One  of  the  professional  contemporaries  of  Judge  Ormond 
whilst  he  continued  to  reside  in  the  Tennessee  valley,  was 
David  G.  Ligon,  who  was  also  well  known  to  me  for  a  series 
of  years.  He  was  born  in  Virginia,  and  was  very  proud  of  his 
place  of  nativity.  He  was  a  man  of  much  more  than  ordin- 
ary reading,  was  a  singularly  fluent  speaker,  and  possessed 
conversational  powers  such  as  persons  less  gifted  in  this 
respect,  could  not  but  witness  with  feelings  of  surprise  not 
unmixed,  it  may  be,  with  admiration.  His  excitable  imagin- 
ation was  almost  always  in  a  state  of  effervescence,  and  often 
did  he  allow  his  Pegasus  to  bound  over  boundless  regions 
both  of  thought  and  action  far  beyond  the  sober  gaze  of  the 
ordinary  habitants  of  earth.  He  was  when  I  knew  him  in 
the  exuberance  of  physical  health  and  in  the  enjoyment  of 
a  somewhat  superabundant  supply  of  animal  spirits,  and,, 
when  addressing  either  court  or  jury,  was  sure  to  give  vent 
to  much  which  men  of  graver  habits  of  thought  would  be- 
inclined  to  call  rodomontade,  and  pronounce  to  be  much 
better  fitted  to  give  transient  entertainment  to  those  having 
a  special  relish  for  the  ludicrous  than  to  enforce  conviction 
or  to  attract  respectable  suitors  to  his  office.  After  the  year 
1830,  it  was  never  my  fortune  to  meet  Mr.  Ligon,  but  I  have 
been  told  that  the  flow  of  years  carried  away  towards  the 
evening  of  life,  much  of  the  trashiness  of  young  unripened 
manhood,  and  that  he  became  before  his  decease  both  a 
member  of  the  church  and  an  acceptable  preacher  of  the 
Gospel.  He  also  attained  a  seat  upon  the  chancery  bench, 
and  in  this  responsible  position,  is  reported  to  have  given 
general  satisfaction. 

About  the  time  that  Mr,  Ormond  and  Mr.  Ligon  were  re- 
siding in  Courtland  as  active  practitioners  of  law,  an  attor- 
ney was  gradually  rising  to  eminence  at  the  bar  in  the  neigh- 
boring town  of  Florence,  a  brief  delineation  of  whom  will 
now  be  attempted.  Peter  Anderson  was  a  native  of  New 
York,  and  reported  himself  to  have  been  trained  to  the 
duties  of  his  profession  by  the  celebrated  Chancellor  Kent. 
He  was  a  tall  slender  man,  of  most  fragile  structure,  and  had 
apparently  less  of  flesh  and  blood  about  him  than  any  living 


222     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST 

man  I  ever  beheld  who  was  able  to  walk  with  elastic  vigor 
and  discharge  the  ordinary  functions  of  social  existence. 
Though  considerably  over  six  feet  in  height,  he  could  not 
possibly  have  weighed  more  than  a  hundred  pounds.  His 
hair  was  jet  black;  his  complexion  was  swarthy;  he  had  a 
face  of  unusual  longitude ;  a  long  protruding  nose ;  small 
dark  eyes,  deeply  sunken  in  his  head ;  with  rough  bushy  eye- 
brows, the  inner  extremities  of  which  almost  met  and  formed 
a  decidedly  acute  angle,  Mr.  Anderson  had  a  hollow  sepul- 
chral voice  and  his  enunciation  seemed  to  indicate  the  exist- 
ence of  pulmonary  disease  of  long  standing.  It  was  uni- 
versally admitted  that  Mr,  Anderson  was  deeply  read  in 
legal  science,  and  that  he  could,  when  necessary,  state  a 
point  in  court  in  language  of  singular  clearness  and  signifi- 
cance. He  was  not  at  all  though  a  graceful  and  winning 
speaker,  and  he  was  altogether  lacking  in  complaisance  and 
affability.  He  was  irritable,  dogmatic,  and  assuming,  to  an 
extent  altogether  unusual  at  the  bar,  and  whilst  all  gave  him 
much  credit  for  juridical  learning  and  intellectual  acuteness, 
I  should  think  it  certain  that  he  never  made  a  warm  and 
sympathizing  friend  outside  of  his  own  family  connection, 
which  was  undoubtedly  one  of  great  respectability.  The  last 
time  I  saw  this  individual  he  was  a  resident  of  New  Orleans. 
Whether  he  succeeded  there  as  an  attorney  I  have  not 
learned. 

An  attorney  of  very  opposite  qualities  in  some  respects 
was  James  Deavenport,  of  the  Mississippi  bar.  He  was  born 
somewhere  in  Virginia,  as  I  have  learned,  but  was  educated 
and  prepared  for  the  practice  of  law  in  Middle  Tennessee. 
Mr.  Deavenport  migrated  to  Mississippi  about  forty-two  years 
since,  and  located  in  the  town  of  Clinton.  He  was  a  well- 
read  lawyer,  of  considerable  acquaintance  with  the  volumes 
of  literature  at  that  time  most  in  vogue,  and  spoke  at  the  bar 
with  much  facility  and  in  language  both  correct  and  impres- 
sive. He  was  a  man  of  the  utmost  sweetness  of  temper  and 
of  uniform  civility  and  friendliness  of  manner.  The  petty  feel- 
ings of  professional  rivalry  never  found  entrance  into  his 
manly  and  generous  soul,  and  during  a  familiar  acquaintance 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     223 

of  many  years  I  do  not  remember  of  hearing  from  his  lips 
one  unjust  or  illiberal  allusion  to  any  human  being.  He  was 
of  delicate  physical  structure,  but  of  very  symmetrical  pro- 
portions, and  possessed  an  expression  of  countenance  as  soft 
and  benignant  as  we  are  accustomed  to  behold  in  the  gentler 
sex.  The  last  occasion  of  any  note  when  I  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  hearing  Mr.  Deavenport  speak  in  court  was  con- 
nected with  some  very  peculiar  circumstances,  a  recital  of 
which  I  shall  now  give. 

A  man  by  the  name  of  Fitzpatrick  was  keeper  of  a  hotel 
formerly  much  resorted  to,  located  at  what  was  then  known 
as  the  Mississippi  Springs.     He  had  in  his  employment  a 
genteel  and  intelligent  looking  man  by  the  name  of  Wood, 
who  was  officiating  as  bar-keeper.    One  morning  Fitzpatrick, 
upon  the  plea  that  Wood  had  abstracted  a  portion  of  the 
money  of  the  house  trusted  to  his  custody,  accused  him 
openly  of  embezzlement,  and  proceeded  so  far  as  to  break 
open  the  trunk  of  Wood's  wife  in  order,  if  he  could,  to  find 
and  repossess  himself  of  his  lost  treasure.     Here  he  found 
some  twenty  or  thirty  dollars,  to  all  of  v/hich  he  boldly  laid 
claim,  and  proposed  to  identify  the  whole  mass  which  he 
found  lying  together  in  the  trunk,  by  swearing  to  the  owner- 
ship of  a  silver  quarter  of  a  dollar,  which  he  professed  to 
recognize  by  reason  of  a  hole  which  some  one  had  before 
that  time  pierced  through  it.     A  criminal  investigation  after- 
wards ensued  before  a  court  of  inquiry,  and  I  was  employed 
to  defend  the  parties  accused.     The  case  was  returned  to  the 
circuit  court;  the  grand  jury  failed  to  find  a  true  bill,  so  that 
the  only  question  remaining  to  be  determined  related  to  the 
ownership  of  the  money,  which  was  yet  in  judicial  custody. 
In  regard  to  this  matter  a  discussion  ensued  between  Mr. 
Deavenport  and  myself,  which  was  going  on  in  quite  a  com- 
plaisant and  orderly  manner  when  Fitzpatrick  suddenly  ap- 
peared in  court  armed  with  a  large  stick,  and  by  his  manner 
evidently  menaced  me  with  violence  if  I  should  allude  to  him 
at  all  disrespectfully.     Upon  this,  calling  the  attention  of  the 
court  to  the  offender's  conduct,  I  took  occasion  to  speak  of 
him  in  terms  far  more  uncivil  than  I  had  originally  intended 


224     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

to  employ.  When  the  discussion  was  over  I  called  upon  Mr. 
Deavenport,  whom  I  knew  to  be  a  just  and  high-minded 
gentleman,  and  asked  him  to  ascertain  from  his  client  whether 
he  designed  to  make  an  attack  upon  my  person,  in  which 
case  I  should  feel  bound  to  put  on  arms  for  my  own  defense. 
Mr.  Deavenport  accordingly  had  an  immediate  interview 
with  Fitzpatrick,  who  observed  that  he  had  no  intention  to 
carry  the  matter  further. 

Months  elapsed,  and  I  did  not  hear  that  Fitzpatrick  had 
ever  complained  audibly  of  the  language  which  I  had  felt 
justified  in  applying  to  him  in  court.  Visiting  the  City  of 
Jackson  one  day,  and  having  occasion  to  hold  a  conference 
in  one  of  the  hotels  there  with  an  honored  friend,  long  since 
deceased,  just  as  I  came  forth  to  the  tavern  portico,  on  my 
way  to  the  open  street,  Fitzpatrick  rushed  upon  me  with  a 
heavy  club  in  his  hand,  and  attempted  to  strike  me  with  it. 
I  seized  the  weapon  and  held  it  fast,  until  I  had  succeeded,  a 
good  deal  to  my  own  surprise,  in  throwing  the  assailant  out- 
side of  the  door,  and  leaping  upon  his  prostrate  person.  He 
was  armed  vdth  pistols,  but  before  he  could  draw  and  fire 
upon  me,  the  venerable  George  W.  Adams  came  along  and 
separated  the  combating  parties.  After  this,  learning  that 
Fitzpatrick  was  still  armed,  and  that  he  meditated  a  renewal 
of  hostilities,  I  borrowed  several  pistols,  and  placed  myself 
in  front  of  the  hotel,  where  I  knew  him  to  be,  and 
remained  in  this  place,  strictly  on  the  defensive.  In  a  minute 
or  two,  my  antagonist  sallied  forth  and  fired  at  me,  but  v/ith- 
out  effect.  I  returned  his  fire,  but  did  him  no  injury.  He 
then  ran  towards  me  with  his  cane  elevated,  evidently  intent 
on  my  destruction.  As  he  thus  advanced,  I  took  deliberate 
aim  at  him,  and  shot  him  directly  through  the  abdomen; 
but,  strange  to  say,  the  wound  inflicted  did  not  prove  mortal. 
So  soon  as  Fitzpatrick  got  well  enough,  I  determined  to  hold 
him  responsible  for  this  serious  and  aggravated  violation  of 
the  law  of  the  land.  I  took  out  a  warrant  for  him,  and  he 
was  brought  before  two  justices,  constituting  a  court  of  inquiry, 
upon  a  charge  of  having  committed  an  assault  with  intent  to 
commit  murder.      Mr.   Prentiss  appeared  in  behalf  of  the 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     22$ 

accused,  but  despite  his  eloquence  and  ingenuity,  Fitzpatrick 
was  bound  over  to  appear  at  the  next  circuit  court,  to  answer 
for  the  offense  which  he  had  committed.  His  situation  had 
now  become  a  very  disagreeable  one ;  for,  in  the  event  of  his 
being  ultimately  convicted,  confinement  in  the  penitentiary 
was  the  least  punishment  which  he  would  have  to  endure. 
Under  these  circumstances,  I  was  earnestly  persuaded  by  the 
friends  of  Fitzpatrick  to  discontinue  the  prosecution,  they 
promising  in  his  behalf  that  I  should  in  future  have  no  cause 
to  complain  of  his  conduct.  This  course  I  took  pleasure  in 
pursuing,  and  not  only  prevailed  upon  the  grand  jury,  when 
I  was  summoned  to  testify  before  them,  to  decline  examining 
me  as  a  witness,  but  to  receive  no  other  evidence  against  the 
accused  whatever,  and  to  ignore  the  bill  of  indictment  pre- 
sented to  them. 

It  is  due  to  Fitzpatrick  to  say  that  he  was  ever  after  my 
friend,  and  gave  me  many  proofs  of  his  respect  and  kindness. 
Mr.  Deavenport  was  sent  out  to  New  Mexico  by  President 
Pierce,  as  a  judicial  officer  in  that  remote  region.  Whether 
he  is  still  surviving,  I  have  no  convenient  means  of  ascertain- 
ing ;  but,  whether  living  or  dead,  I  can  say  of  him  that  a 
truer,  kinder,  or  more  magnanimous  man  I  have  never  known. 
I  have  yet  made  no  mention  of  an  individual  who  is  well 
entitled  to  a  more  extended  description  than  it  is  at  present 
in  my  power  to  present. 

Joseph  E.  Davis  was  a  native  of  Georgia.  He  was  reared 
in  the  State  of  Kentucky,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
town  of  Hopkinsville.  Here  he  read  law,  obtained  license 
to  practice,  and  soon  after  removed  to  the  State  of  Missis- 
sippi, and  became  a  resident  of  the  village  of  Fayette,  in 
Jefferson  county.  He  subsequently  removed  to  the  City  of 
Natchez,  was  quite  successful  in  the  accumulation  of  money, 
and  ultimately  located  himself  in  the  county  of  Warren, 
where  he  purchased  a  large  and  valuable  plantation,  and 
became  the  owner  of  many  slaves.  I  formed  a  personal  ac- 
quaintance with  Mr.  Davis  in  the  spring  of  1831,  and  formed 
a  high  opinion  both  of  his  intellect  and  attainments.  He  is 
admitted  by  all  to  have  been  a  well-informed  attorney,  a 


226      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

shrewd  and  successful  trader,  and  a  man  of  strong  common 
sense.  He  certainly  had  read  many  books  of  general  science 
and  digested  them  well.  Though  a  frigid  and  prosy  speaker, 
he  wrote  both  with  correctness  and  vigor,  and,  as  I  have  al- 
ways thought,  was  one  of  the  best  informed  politicians  of  his 
time.  He  was  an  affectionate  father  and  brother,  and  to- 
wards a  younger  brother,  now  of  world-wide  celebrity,  gave 
evidence  of  such  devoted  attachment  as  was  calculated  to 
awaken  general  respect  and  sympathy.  He  left  a  number 
of  children  behind  him  whom  he  devotedly  loved,  and  for 
them  he  provided  most  generously  by  will,  a  short  time  be- 
fore his  death.  Of  the  younger  brother  alluded  to  he  was 
not  unmindful.  He  had  bestowed  upon  him  many  years  be- 
fore a  competent  estate,  which  the  latter  at  the  time  very 
much  needed,  and  confidently  looked  to  him  for  the  judicious 
administration  of  the  property  he  was  about  to  leave  behind 
him,  and  for  the  protection  of  those  children  now  sqon  to 
experience  the  woes  of  orphanage.  It  is  painful  to  know 
that  this  large  estate  has  recently  become  the  subject  of  al- 
most as  unkind  controversy  as  did  Numidia  of  old  between 
Jugurtha  and  the  children  of  Micipsa ;  and  the  following  de- 
cree of  the  the  firm-minded  and  enlightened  Chancellor  of 
Warren  county  may  be  with  the  coming  generations  of  pos- 
terity as  interesting  in  the  perusal  as  the  graphic  pages  of 
Sallust.     Here  it  is  : 

OPINION    OF    CHANCELLOR    HILL. 

The  following  is  the  official  copy  of  the  opinion  of  Chancellor 
Hill  of  the  Chancery  Court  of  Warren  county,  Mississippi,  in  the 
case  of  Jefferson  Davis  v.  J.  H.  D.  Bowmar  et  al.,  delivered  at 
Vicksburg,  on  the  8th  of  January,  1876. 

Complainant  claims  to  have  been  the  owner  of  "Brierfield" 
plantation,  situated  in  this  county,  not  as  a  purchaser  but  by  pos- 
session adverse  to  his  brother  J.  E.  Davis,  originating  in  an  alleged 
parol  gift  by  him,  and  entry  thereunder,  as  long  ago  as  about  1835. 

J.  E.  Davis  originally  entered  said  plantation  from  the  United 
States  Government,  together  with  a  large  quantity  of  land  adjoin- 
ing it,  known  as  "Hurricane."  He. never  conveyed  any  part  of 
either  of  said  plantations. 

Comolainant  claims  to  have  occupied  "Brierfield  "  until  it  and 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     22/ 

*^  Hurricane  "  were  taken  possession  of  by  the  United  States  Gov- 
ment  in  1862  or  i:  63.  In  1865  both  "Hurricane"  and  "Brier- 
field  "  were  turned  over  by  the  United  States  Government  to  J. 
E.  Davis,  it  being  represented  to  the  government  that  he,  and  not 
Jefferson  Davis,-  was  the  owner  of  it. 

In  1866  Mr.  J.  E.  Davis  sold,  and  by  his  deed  conveyed,  the 
whole  of  said  two  plantations  to  Benjamin  Montgomery  and  his 
two  sons,  for  and  at  the  price  of  $300,000,  taking  therefor  their 
bonds  secured  by  mortgage  upon  the  lands.  The  interest  on  the 
bonds  was  payable  annually.  The  proportionate  value  of  *'  Brier- 
field,"  as  represented  by  the  bonds  given  for  the  purchase  price, 
is  claimed  to  be  $70,000. 

Joe  E.  Davis  died  in  1870,  leaving  his  last  will  and  testament, 
whereby  he  made  these  respondents,  Mrs.  Hamar  and  J.  D. 
Mitchell,  his  principal  legatees,  and  also  residuary  legatees.  He 
specifically  willed  to  the  former  $  •  00,000,  and  to  the  latter  1^50,000, 
and  to  each  of  the  complainant's  four  children  ^20,000,  payable 
out  of  the  bonds  aforesaid,  and  requiring  the  interest  accruing 
thereon  to  be  paid  proportionally  on  those  legacies.  The  will  em- 
powered the  executors,  in  their  discretion,  to  abate  or  remit  princi- 
pal and  interest  upon  said  purchase  price,  and  directed  them  to 
deal  leniently  with  the  purchasers. 

The  sale  was  entirely  on  a  credit,  and  was  to  parties  who  were 
of  late  slaves  of  J.  E.  Davis,  and  I  think  was  for  a  larger  sum  than 
the  purchasers  could  well  carry  from  the  resources  of  the  places. 
The  sale  was  made  at  the  time  when  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  was  in 
prison  upon  a  charge  of  treason,  and  it  is  suggested,  in  argument, 
that  there  were  prudential  reasons  why  the  transactions  concern- 
ing the  lands  might  not  have  been  made  in  his  name,  conceding 
him  to  have  been  the  real  owner ;  to-wit,  a  fear  of  confiscation. 
The  political  disabilities  of  complainant  have  not  been  removed, 
and  it  is  conceded,  on  behalf  of  respondent,  that  the  same  pru- 
dential reasons  may  have  operated  to  induce  the  testator  to  will 
the  value  of  "Brierfield"  to  the  children  of  complainant  instead 
of  to  him  directly. 

The  theory  of  respondents  is  that  the  occupation  of  complain- 
ant of  the  land  in  question  was  only  permissive,  and  not  adverse, 
and  that  while  J.  E.  Davis  always  held  the  legal  title  and  absolute 
power  of  disposition  in  himself,  it  may  have  been  his  design  to  give 
complainant  its  use  and  eventually  the  property  or  its  proceeds.   I 


228     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  a  disposition  of  the  points  I  am  now- 
approaching  to  determine  that  question  of  fact. 

In  1870  the  will  of  J.  E.  Davis  was  admitted  to  probate,  and 
this  complainant  and  two  others  qualified  and  entered  upon  their 
duties  as  executors,  whereupon  the  relations  of  complainant  to  the 
matters  involved  in  this  litigation  became  that  of  a  trustee. 

Complainant  joined  with  his  co-executors  in  inventorying  the 
whole  of  said  bonds  as  the  property  of  the  estate  of  his  testator  ; 
also,  in  determining  what  should  and  what  should  not  be  paid, 
under  the  will,  out  of  the  proceeds  of  said  bonds.  He  paid  to 
his  children  and  to  Mrs.  Hamar  and  Mr.  Mitchell  the  interest  on 
their  legacies  out  of  the  interest  collected  from  the  bonds,  as 
directed  in  the  will.  In  December,  1870,  he  joined  with  his  co- 
executors  in  the  performance  of  their  duty  as  such,  in  agreeing 
and  declaring  that  "  funds  arising  from  the  sale  of  '  Hurricane  ' 
and  '  Brierfield  '  plantations,  after  satisfying  the  claims  of  the  lega- 
tees specifically  provided  for  from  that  source,  are  available  f  r 
payment  of  debts  due  the  estate  and  for  current  expenses  in  the 
administration  thereof;  the  balance  shall  be  considered  as  part  of 
the  residuary  legacy."  Of  this  they  made  a  record  and  signed  it 
officially,  and  upon  that  theory  the  administration  proceeded.  So 
down  to  about  the  time  of  the  commencement  of  this  suit,  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  trust  proceeded  upon  that  theory,  the  trustees  in 
every  way  treating  the  sale  to  the  Montgomerys  as  valid  and  the 
bonds  as  the  property  of  the  estate,  complainant  making  no  claim 
against  it,  nor  against  the  estate  on  account  of  such  sale  for  the 
money  received  therefrom. 

About  the  time  the  estate  was  administered  upon,  (which  was 
September  21,  1870,)  it  was  suggested  to  complainant,  by  a  co- 
executor.  Dr.  Bowmar,  that  the  legacies  to  his  children  were  in 
compensation  for  ** Brierfield."  When  making  his  will  testator 
had  said,  in  subs.ance,  that  the  said  legacies  were  intended  to  rep- 
resent the  value  of  "Brierfield."  Complainant  now  claims  that 
"Brierfield"  was  his  property,  and  that  the  proceeds  of  the  sale, 
so  far  as  it  represents  the  value  of  "  Brierfield,"  to  wit,  1^70,000 
of  the  bonds,  is  held  by  the  estate  of  J.  E.  Davis,  in  trust  for  him, 
and  that  he  is  entitled  to  the  same. 

It  is  contended  by  respondents  that  by  accepting  and  entering 
upon  the  trust  and  administering  its  benefits  the  trustee  thereby 
confirms  the  trust,  asserting  that  the  trust  property  is  legitimately 
and  rightfully  disposed  of.   and  he  stands  as  its  protector  and  de- 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     229 

fender  against  any  claims  adverse  to  the  express  directions  given 
it  by  the  trust,  and  is  thereby  estopped  from  making  such  claims 
himself. 

It  is,  however,  contended  by  complainant  that  this  rule  does  not 
go  so  far  as  to  exclude  a  person  who  is  a  trustee  from  making  his 
claims  against  the  trust  estate  in  an  individual  capacity,  but  only 
affects  the  remedy.  To  illustrate :  A  trustee  of  an  estate,  who  is 
also  a  creditor  of  the  same,  is  not,  by  reason  of  his  trusteeship,  pro- 
hibited from  enforcing  his  debt,  because  in  this  there  is  nothing 
inconsistent  nor  in  conflict  with  the  trust. 

In  the  cases  referred  to,  (as,  for  instance,  an  administration 
of  an  estate,)  one  of  the  very  purposes  of  the  trust  is 
the  payment  of  all  debts  and  legitimate  claims  in  the  manner 
prescribed  by  law;  but  I  conceive  the  case  at  bar  is  different  in 
this,  that  here,  in  the  creation  of  the  trust,  the  trust  property  is 
given  express  direction ;  and  the  complainant  now  seeks,  not  to 
recover  a  debt  or  ordinary  claim  against  the  estate,  but  he  seeks 
to  carve  out  of  the  body  of  the  trust  certain  portions  of  it,  which 
he  claims  as  his  own  ;  in  ether  words,  upon  a  claim  of  ownership 
or  right  to  certain  portions  of  it,  he  seeks  to  divert  the 
subject  of  the  trust  from  what  I  conceive  to  have  been 
the  clear  purport  and  design  of  the  testator  in  its  crea- 
tion. Complainant  qualif.ed  as  executor  of  the  will  of  his 
his  brother,  and  entered  upon  the  trust  with  his  eyes  open,  cer- 
tainly knowing  then,  as  well  as  at  any  time  since,  his  exact  rights, 
if  any  he  had ;  and  yet  he  proceeded  to  its  execution  in  pursuance 
of  it,  dealing  out  from  the  body  of  the  trust,  as  a  whole,  benefits 
to  the  beneficiaries,  including  the  members  of  his  own  family, 
even  receiving  to  himself  pay  for  his  services  as  such  trustee. 

I  do  not  conceive  that  it  is  a  matter  of  importance  to  the  de- 
termination of  this  point  to  inquire  whether  complainant  entered 
upon  and  proceeded  with  the  trust  upon  the  apparent  theory  that 
the  Montgomery  bond  was  absolutely  and  entirely  the  property  of 
the  testator,  for  the  reason  that  under  the  circumstances  he  was  in 
his  heart  satisfied  to  let  it  remain  so ;  or  for  the  reason  that  his 
children  were  large  beneficiaries  under  the  will ;  or  because,  his 
political  disabilities  not  yet  being  removed,  he  might  have  an- 
ticipated danger  of  confiscation  if  he  had  the  property  in  his  own 
name ;  or  for  any  other  prudential  reasons.  It  is  not  so  much  a 
question  of  motive  as  of  fact.  I  think  that  upon  this  view  the 
complainant  is  estopped  from  setting  up  his  claim,  so  inconsistent 


230     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

and  damaging  to  the  trust.  To  conclude  otherwise  would  be  to 
strike  down  the  sacred  seals  of  confidence  which  under  the  jealous 
eye  of  courts  have  so  long  stood  guard  over  the  peculiar  relations 
which  characterize  trusts,  and  open  the  portals  to  the  infirmities  of 
human  nature. 

Respondents  contend  for  another  distinct  estoppel  against  the 
complainant's  claim  in  this — that  after  he  entered  upon  the  trust 
he  made  a  claim  against  the  estate  for  about  ;^io,ooo  for  a  debt 
alleged  to  be  owing  to  him.  This  claim  was  disputed,  and  after- 
wards an  adjustment  and  compromise  was  made  and  reduced  to 
writing  by  and  between  complainant  and  these  respondents,  Mrs. 
Hamer  and  J.  D.  Mitchell,  the  two  principal  witnesses,  and  also 
the  residuary  legatees  under  the  will,  whereby  they  obligated 
themselves  in  a  manner  and  to  an  extent  that  upon  the  evidence 
it  would  be  unreasonable  to  suppose  they  would  have  done  had 
complainant  then  claimed  to  be  entitled  out  of  the  Montgomery 
bonds  to  the  purchase  price  of  "Brierfield."  It  does  not  appear 
that  at  this  time  complainant  had  ever  evinced  any  pretense  to 
any  right  to  the  proceeds  of  "Brierfield,"  though  his  co-executor. 
Dr.  Bowmar,  had  long  before  suggested  to  him  that  the  legacies  to 
his  children  were  in  lieu  of  it.  These  respondents  do  not  appear 
to  have  had  any  suspicion  of  such  claim,  and  if  they  had  enter- 
tained such  suspicion  I  think  complainant's  course  with  regard  to 
the  matter  was  well  calculated  to  quiet  and  remove  it. 

I  do  not  think  that,  under  the  established  and  wholesome  rules 
governing  such  matters,  complainant  can  be  permitted  to  contro- 
vert his  acts  and  course.  Not  only  as  trustee  under  the  will,  but 
in  adjusting  the  said  individual  matter,  complainant's  acts  and 
course  were  confirmatory  of  the  disposition  made  of  *  Brierfield" 
by  the  testator,  all  parties  in  interest  acquiescing,  and  respondents, 
Hamer  and  Mitchell,  obligating  themselves  to  complainant's  ad- 
vantage as  aforesaid.  Again — and  as  bearing  upon  the  question 
of  estoppel  already  considered — it  is  not  out  of  place  to  advert  to 
the  point,  that  the  principal  contested  fact  in  this  case  is  the  own- 
ership of  "Brierfield,"  based  not  upon  paper  titles,  but  upon  ad- 
verse possession. 

The  testimony  bearing  upon  this  question  is  such,  pro  and  con, 
as  to  command  the  most  thorough  and  analytical  consideration  in 
order  to  arrive  at  the  real  truth  of  the  matter,  which  condition  of 
the  case  is  such,  in  my  opinion,  as  to  give  additional  force  to  the 
claims  of  estoppel  set  up  by  the  defense. 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     23 1 

I  am  of  the   opinion  that  for  the  reasons  afore  presented  Mr. 
Davis  is  estopped  from  prosecuting  this  claim. 

These  conclusions  seem  to  rend:;r  the  consideration  of  other 
questions  unnecessary.     Let  a  decree  be  entered  accordingly. 

E.  HILL,  Chancellor. 

George  W.  Paschal  was  born  in  the  county  of  Greene,  m 
the  State  of  Georgia,  on  the  23d  of  November,  1812,  butwas 
reared  in  Oglethorpe.  The  standing  of  his  family  was  one 
of  great  respectability,  and  both  his  father  and  mother  were 
noted  for  their  intelligence  and  moral  worth.  The  former 
having  failed  in  business,  the  opportunities  of  mental  culture 
accessible  to  the  subject  of  this  notice  were  very  restricted. 
By  singular  application  and  energy,  young  Paschal  was  able 
to  make  greater  educational  progress  than  could  have  been 
reasonably  expected,  prepared  himself  very  creditably  for 
commencing  the  study  of  law,  and,  in  1832,  received  a  license 
to  practice,  subscribed  by  the  celebrated  William  H.  Craw- 
ford, He  located  immediately  thereafter  in  the  county  of 
Lumpkin,  and  there  continued  for  four  years,  enjoying  as 
much  success  as  is  ordinarily  achieved  by  young  attorneys  in 
the  outset  of  their  career.  Meanwhile  he  continued  his  legal 
studies,  mingling  therewith  considerable  attention  to  works 
of  general  science  and  literature,  and  occasionally  contributed 
articles  for  the  newspapers  which  attracted  at  the  time  a  good 
deal  of  attention.  He  removed  to  Arkansas  in  the  year  1837, 
and  established  his  residence  in  the  little  town  of  Van  Buren, 
in  Benton  county,  where  he  recommenced  his  professional 
career.  The  first  case  of  interest  in  which  he  appeared  was 
one  in  which  the  alleged  culprit  was  accused  of  having  forged 
a  free  pasS  for  a  negro,  which  pass  was  to  enable  him  to 
obtain  relief  from  service  by  flying  to  the  State  of  Illinois. 
The  negro  having  been  arrested  on  the  way,  confessed  that 
he  had  stolen  five  hundred  dollars  of  his  master's  money,  and 
paid  the  same  to  a  neighboring  white  citizen,  as  his  recom- 
pense for  the  preparation  of  this  manumitting  document. 
Though  there  was  little  other  evidence  of  the  guilt  of  the 
accused  besides  the  confession  of  the  slave,  whose  testimony 
was  legally  incompetent,  yet  so  strong  was  the  prejudice 


232     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

awakened  by  the  affair,  that  the  grand  jury  of  the  county  did 
not  hesitate  to  find  a  true  bill  against  the  white  man  alluded 
to,  and  a  civil  suit  was  in  addition  instituted  for  the  recovery 
of  the  five  hundred  dollars. 

In  the  trial  of  these  cases,  several  attorneys  appeared,  all 
of  whom  have  since  gained  more  or  less  prominence.  These 
were  David  Walker,  Seaborn  G.  Sneed,  and  Williamson  S. 
Oldham,  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution,  and  Samuel  D. 
Evans,  Royal  T.  Wheeler,  and  George  W.  Paschal,  on  the 
part  of  the  defence.  A  verdict  of  acquittal  was  obtained  for 
the  accused,  in  the  criminal  prosecution,  and  the  civil  action 
resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  plaintiff.  Paschal,  Oldham, 
Walker  and  Wheeler,  were  all  of  them  afterwards  elected  to 
the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Arkansas,  and  three  of 
these  occupied  the  office  of  Chief  Justice  thereof.  Sneed 
became  a  distinguished  district  judge,  and  afterwards  served 
as  a  Representative  in  Congress. 

Immediately  after  these  trials.  Paschal  found  himself  in 
possession  of  an  extensive  practice  as  a  lawyer.  Professional 
success  was  far  from  inducing  him  to  relax  in  his  pursuit  of 
knowledge,  but,  on  the  contrary,  he  is  known  to  have  become 
more  and  more  devoted  to  books  as  he  advanced  in  years, 
and  to  have  at  all  times  avoided  the  use  of  strong  drink,  that 
direst  enemy  and  assured  extinguisher  of  forensic  fame  and 
mental  power. 

Judge  Paschal  did  not  continue  as  long  upon  the  bench  as 
his  numerous  advising  friends  most  earnestly  desired,  but 
voluntarily  retired  therefrom,  and  resumed  the  practice  of 
his  profession  just  in  time  to  take  charge,  at  a  critical  moment, 
of  what  had  been  long  known  as  the  "  Cherokee  Case."  He 
wrote  much  and  ably  on  this  much  controverted  subject,  and 
greatly  extended  his  reputation  thereby,  and  especially  among 
the  friends  of  the  long-suffering  Indians.  His  labors  in  their 
behalf  were  crowned  with  the  most  distinguished  success, 
and  resulted  in  the  treaty  of  1846,  well  known  as  the  Treaty 
of  Amnesty,  by  means  of  which  more  than  two  millions  of 
dollars  were  restored  to  those  from  whom  the  same  had  been 
for  so  many  years  unjustly  and  cruelly  withheld. 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     233 

Being  invited  to  Texas,  in  order  to  attend  to  some  matters 
of  great  importance  to  certain  of  his  clients,  in  the  year  1848 
Judge  Paschal  located  in  the  City  of  Galveston,  from  which 
place  he  afterwards  deemed  it  expedient  to  remove  to  Aus- 
tin, the  capital  of  the  state.  It  is  doubtless  a  fortunate 
circumstance  in  his  forensic  history  that  he  entered  at  this 
period  upon  a  field  of  professional  exertion  so  different  in 
many  respects  from  that  which  he  had  previously  occupied ; 
for  in  Texas  he  found  it  necessary  to  become  profoundly 
acquainted  with  the  principles  of  the  civil  law,  and  with  the 
laws  of  Spain,  as  modified  in  the  Mexican  states  of  Coahuila 
and  Texas.  Notwithstanding  his  severe  professional  labors, 
at  this  period  of  his  career,  he  became  also  extensively  known 
as  a  political  writer,  and  did  much  to  preserve  Texas  from  the 
criminal  absurdities  of  Know-Nothingism  and  pro-slavery 
fanaticism — fiercely  demanding  the  reopening  of  the  African 
^lave  trade. 

When  the  dangers  of  disunion  in  i860  were  menacing  the 
peace  and  happiness  of  the  republic,  no  one  was  more  zealous 
and  active  than  Judge  Paschal  in  warning  his  countrymen  of 
the  South  against  all  the  evil  consequences  which  they  have 
since  been  fated  to  experience.  When  he  found  his  patriotic 
warnings  disregarded,  and  his  sage  and  salutary  counsels 
rejected,  he  quietly  retired  from  the  arena  of  profitless  con- 
tention, and  has,  for  some  years  past,  whilst  diligently  attend- 
ing to  his  business  as  an  attorney,  been  engaged  also  in  the 
writing  of  books,  several  of  which  have  already  attracted 
much  public  attention,  and  greatly  added  to  his  fame  as  a 
jurist.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  his  Annotated  Digest 
of  the  Laws  of  Texas,  and  his  Annotated  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  two  works  of  surpassing  usefulness  to  the 
present  and  to  future  generations. 

With  Armstead  Burwell,  formerly  a  distinguished  member 
of  the  bar  of  Mississippi,  I  have  had  the  honor  of  enjoyiflg  an 
intimate  personal  acquaintance  for  many  years  past.  Virginia 
gave  him  birth,  and  here  he  received  a  thorough  collegiate 
education.  He  became  a  citizen  of  Mississippi  about  thirty- 
5ix  years  since,  and,  in  a  few  years,  obtained  a  large  and 


234     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

lucrative  practice.  Though  one  of  the  most  zealous  and 
unswerving  supporters  of  the  Federal  Union  that  the  South, 
contained  at  the  eventful  period  of  1861,  yet  has  he  suffered, 
in  various  ways,  more  severely  by  the  late  distressful  war 
than  any  person  whom  I  can  name.  He  is  now,  when  long 
past  the  meridian  of  life,  struggling  with  manly  and  per- 
severing energy  to  retrieve  his  lost  fortunes. 

Mr.  Burwell  possesses  a  sound  and  discriminating  mind, 
much  and  varied  learning,  a  generous  and  patriotic  heart,  and 
a  fondness  for  professional  labor  which  should  command  in 
his  behalf  the  respect  and  sympathy  of  all  who  can  appre- 
ciate intellectual  and  moral  worth,  and  feel  sorrow  over  the 
undeserved  sufferings  of  the  unoffending  and  the  upright. 

I  shall  now  give  some  account  of  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable men,  in  many  respects,  that  this  age  has  pro- 
duced. I  saw  William  L.  Yancey,  for  the  first  time,  in  the 
summer  of  1848.  He  had  an  interview  with  Mr.  Calhoun,  in 
the  hall  of  the  National  Senate,  when  he  was  on  his  way  to 
Baltimore,  where  the  National  Convention  of  the  Democratic 
party  was  about  assembling.  Of  what  occurred  at  this  in- 
terview, I  received  authentic  and  satisfactory  information  at 
that  time.  Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr.  Yancey,  as  well  as  many 
other  pro-slavery  men  in  the  South,  were  not  content  with, 
the  protection  understood  to  be  given  by  the  Federal  Consti- 
tution to  slavery  in  the  states  where  it  then  existed,  but 
desired  to  obtain  for  this  institution  additional  organic  guar- 
antees. This  they  hoped  to  secure  through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  the  Democratic  party,  and,  with  a  view  to  this  end, 
resolved  to  get,  if  they  could,  a  new  plank  in  the  accus- 
tomed political  platform  of  that  party,  committing  its  mem- 
bers to  the  adoption  of  a  distinct  intervention  policy,  and 
allowing  slavery  to  be  introduced  into  all  the  vacant  territory 
of  the  Union.  Mr.  Yancey  is  well  known  to  have  proceeded 
to  Baltimore  on  the  occasion  referred  to,  and  to  have  made 
an  effort  to  have  such  a  resolution  as  has  been  described 
adopted  by  that  body.  Failing  in  this,  he  Mathdrew  from  the 
convention  in  disgust,  returned  to  his  own  home  in  Alabama, 
and,  for  some  years  thereafter,  confined  himself  exclusively 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     23$; 

to  the  practice  of  his  profession,  in  which  he  had  already 
become  not  a  Httle  distinguished.  His  devotion  to  the  study 
of  law-books  was  such  as  is  not  often  seen.  Meanwhile,  he 
read  scientific  and  literary  works  of  acknowledged  merit,  and 
labored  with  a  most  unremitting  zeal  to  perfect  himself  in 
the  art  of  oratory.  In  a  few  years  his  fame  as  a  jurist  and  as 
a  forensic  advocate  was  widely  diffused,  and  he  attained  such 
a  degree  of  intellectual  culture  as  placed  him  far  beyond  the 
reach  of  all  local  rivalry.  There  was  in  Mr.  Yancey's  per- 
son, at  least  in  his  latter  days,  but  little  to  impress  the  casual 
beholder,  or  to  enkindle  the  sympathies  of  those  who  had 
no  special  commune  with  him.  In  stature  he  was  rather  be- 
neath than  above  the  height  of  ordinary  men.  His  face  was 
well  shaped,  but  neither  strikingly  handsome  nor  the  reverse. 
His  vestments  were  quite  remarkable  for  their  plainness 
and  simplicity,  and  did  not  alv/ays  fit  him  as  well  as  they 
might  have  done.  His  aspect  was  in  general  somewhat  lack- 
ing in  animation,  and  not  seldom  betrayed  tokens  of  nervous 
exhaustion.  His  manners  were  decidedly  reserved,  with  a 
perceptible  approximation  to  moroseness.  He  made  no 
attempt  to  shine  in  ordinary  converse.  It  is  known  that  he 
had  studied  men  closely,  and  had  looked  deeply  into  the 
motives  and  purposes  of  those  with  whom  he  had  held  inter- 
course, or  whose  movements  in  public  life  had  specially 
attracted  his  attention.  In  general  he  was  able  to  keep  the 
tempestuous  feelings  of  his  soul  in  a  state  of  stoical  suppres- 
sion ;  but  occasions  sometimes  arose  when,  either  having  lost 
his  accustomed  power  of  self-control,  or  deeming  it  expedient 
to  make  some  display  of  the  stormier  energies  with  which  he 
was  endowed,  he  unloosed  all  the  furies  under  his  command 
upon  some  noted  antagonist,  and  did  and  said  things  which 
those  who  witnessed  his  sublime  ravings  never  again  forgot. 
To  William  L  Yancey,  more  than  to  any  man  besides  whom 
I  have  known,  I  should  feel  justified  in  applying  the  graphic 
language  of  a  modern  poet,  and  say : 


236     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

"  Unlike  the  heroes  of  each  ancient  race, 
Demons  in  act,  but  gods  at  least  in  face, 
In  Conrad's  form  seems  little  to  admire. 
Though  his  black  eye-brow  shades  a  glance  of  fire. 
Robust,  but  not  Herculean  to  the  sight. 
No  giant  frame  set  forth  his  common  height, 
Yet,  on  the  whole,  who  paused  to  look  again 
Saw  more  than  marks  the  herd  of  vulgar  men ; 
They  gaze  and  marvel  how — and  still  confess 

That  thus  it  is,  but  why  they  cannot  guess. 

******* 

Though  smooth  his  voice,  and  calm  his  general  mien, 

Still  seems  there  something  he  would  not  have  seen ; 

His  features'  deepening  lines  and  varying  hue, 

At  times  attracted  but  perplexed  the  view, 

As  if  within  that  murkiness  of  mind 

Worked  feelings  fearful  and  yet  undefined. 

Such  might  it  be;  that  none  could  truly  tell; 

Too  close  inquiry  his  stern  glance  would  quell. 

There  breathe  but  few  whose  aspect  might  defy 

The  full  encounter  of  his  searching  eye. 

He  had  the  skill  when  cunning's  gaze  would  seek 

To  prove  his  heart  and  watch  his  changing  cheek, 

At  once  the  observer's  purpose  to  espy. 

And  on  himself  turn  back  his  scrutiny, 

Lest  he  to  Conrad  rather  should  betray 

Some  secret  thought,  than  drag  that  chief's  to  day." 

I  never  had  the  least  personal  acquaintance  with  William 
X,.  Yancey  until  his  arrival  in  Richmond  as  a  Confederate 
Senator  from  Alabama.  The  civil  v/ar  which  he  had  been  so 
prominently  concerned  in  bringing  on  was  then  raging,  and 
almost  every  day  we  were  hearing  of  new  battles  and  of  a 
most  lamentable  waste  of  precious  American  blood  on  either 
side.  Mr.  Yancey  had  then  just  returned  from  Europe, 
whither  he  had  gone  with  a  hope  of  so  far  propitiating  for- 
eign powers  as  to  secure  at  their  hands  a  formal  recognition 
■of  the  newly  organized  Confederacy  which  he  represented. 


BENCH    AND    BAR   OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  2^/^ 

In  this  quest  he  had  been  painfully  disappointed,  and  he  had 
been  reported  in  the  newspapers  of  the  time  as  having  ex- 
pressed himself  in  rather  discouraging  terms,  on  several 
public  occasions,  touching  the  probable  result  of  the  war. 
At  the  moment  of  Mr,  Yancey's  reaching  Richmond,  a 
number  of  occurrences  had  taken  place  well  calculated  to 
deepen  his  chagrin  and  fill  his  mind  with  hopelessness  and 
gloom.  Tokens  of  gross  maladministration  in  Confederate 
affairs  were  almost  everywhere  manifest,  and  the  unparalleled 
obstinacy  of  those  in  power  seemed  to  render  all  ameliora- 
tion impossible.  Under  these  circumstances  I  had  the  honor 
of  being  summoned  to  a  festal  entertainment  in  one  of  the 
hotels  of  Richmond,  where  Mr.  Yancey  was  also  an  invited 
guest.  I  sat  opposite  to  him  at  table,  but  we  were  not  intro- 
duced. In  truth  such  a  proceeding  would  have  been  much 
out  of  place,  since  each  of  us  had  denounced  the  other  in 
heated  political  speeches  delivered  in  i860.  Mr.  Yancey  was 
evidently  in  bad  spirits,  and  said  not  a  word  in  furtherance 
of  the  hilarity  in  which  he  had  been  called  to  participate. 
Several  months  passed  after  this,  before  our  common  friends 
brought  Mr.  Yancey  and  myself  together,  and  we  became 
reconciled.  After  this,  our  relations  became  so  kind  that 
when  his  decease  was  formally  announced  in  the  Confederate 
House  of  Representatives  of  which  I  was  a  member,  I  was 
requested  to  speak  in  commendation  of  him ;  which  I  cer- 
tainly took  great  pleasure  in  doing. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  claiming  to  have  been 
at  any  time  on  terms  of  close  intimacy  with  this  very  re- 
markable person,  but  I  heard  him  speak  repeatedly  in  the 
Confederate  Senate,  and  listened  to  his  celebrated  speech  to 
a  vast  concourse  in  the  summer  of  i860,  on  Capitol  Hill  in 
Nashville,  and  have  thus  been  able  to  form  a  very  decided 
opinion  as  to  his  powers  as  a  speaker. 

In  my  judgment,  the  South  has  contained  within  her  limits 
no  such  eloquent  and  effective  political  speaker  as  William  L. 
Yancey,  since  the  death  of  George  A.  McDuffie.  When 
rising  to  discuss  a  question  of  special  dignity  and  import- 
ance, his  aspect  and  manner  were  marked  with  mingled  ear- 


.238  BENCH    AND    BAR   OF  SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

nestness  and  solemnity.  His  exordium  was  always  uttered 
with  an  imposing  slowness  and  formality.  He  enunciated 
every  word  and  syllable  distinctly.  His  voice  was  clear,  strong, 
and  sonorous.  He  commonly  spoke  in  the  conversational 
tone,  a  little  elevated.  His  gestures  were  few,  but  these  were 
.most  apt  and  impressive.  He  never  addressed  either  a  de- 
liberative body  or  a  popular  audience  without  hscVrng  previ- 
ously mastered  the  subject  upon  which  he  was  expected  to 
'dilate,  in  all  its  parts.  His  acute  and  well-balanced  intellect, 
supplied  as  it  was  with  vast  stores  of  information  of  almost 
every  kind,  generally  enabled  him  to  anticipate  and  respond 
■effectually  to  whatever  might  be  said  by  his  adversaries  in 
debate.  His  powers  of  sarcasm  were  tremendous,  and  he 
sometimes  indulged  in  a  bitter  and  sneerful  ridicule  which  it 
was  very  difficult  to  tolerate  patiently.  The  greatest  of  his 
speeches  in  Richmond  was  that  which  he  delivered  upon 
what  was  known  as  the  judiciary  question,  in  which  he  took 
strong  ground  against  conferring  appellate  jurisdiction  upon 
the  Confederate  Supreme  Court  in  cases  originating  in  the 
state  courts.  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  hearing  the  whole  of 
liis  elaborate  argument  on  this  occasion,  and  can  sincerely 
•declare  that  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  very  nearly  equal  in 
vigor,  brilliancy,  and  classic  ornament,  to  some  of  the  best 
speeches  of  Webster  or  Pinckney.  Arthur  F.  Hopkins  sat 
by  my  side  on  this  interesting  occasion,  and  exclaimed  to  me 
more  than  once  that  he  was  now  thoroughly  convinced  that 
Mr.  Yancey  was  by  far  the  ablest  of  living  speakers. 

I  have  already  said  that  Mr.  Yancey  had  much  hand  in  the 
■origination  of  the  late  civil  war,  and  such  was  certainly  the 
case  ;  but  in  regard  to  his  conduct  in  this  respect,  I  have 
long  since  ceased  to  censure  him  with  bitterness.  Trained 
in  the  days  of  his  opening  manhood,  in  the  extreme  state 
rights  school  of  the  South,  he  very  naturally  adopted  cer- 
tain plausible  dogmas,  to  the  support  of  which  he  afterwards 
devoted  the  best  energies  of  his  splendid  and  gigantic  in- 
tellect. He  really  believed,  that  under  our  system  of  gov- 
ernment, the  states  are  absolutely  sovereign,  bound  to- 
gether only  by  a  league  which  they  may  at  any  moment  dis- 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      239 

solve,  and  that  the  Federal  Government  owing  its  origin  to 
states,  as  such,  is  a  mere  agency  established  by  them,  for 
purposes  of  convenience,  and  has  no  powers  whatever  save 
those  which  have  been  formally  and  specifically  conceded 
to  it.  He  devoutly  believed,  with  Mr,  Calhoun,  that  African 
slavery  was  a  vital  and  indispensable  ingredient  of  the  sys- 
tern  of  polity  established  by  our  fathers ;  that,  without  it,  no 
freedom,  worthy  of  the  name,  could  be  enjoyed  by  the 
white  race  of  this  continent,  and  that  the  more  widely  diffused 
it  might  become,  the  more  prosperous  and  happy  would  be 
the  whole  Republic. 

Entertaining  these  views,  it  is  not  at  all  wonderful  thaf  Mr. 
Yancey  should  have  sought  to  engraft  upon  the  Democratic 
political  platform  of  1848  a  resolution  affirmatively  protective 
of  slavery  in  the  territories.  It  is  as  little  surprising  that  he 
and  those  agreeing  with  him  in  sentiment  should  advocate 
disunion  in  185 1,  because  of  the  admission  of  California  as  a 
free  state ;  that  they  should  have  made  an  attempt  in  1861  to 
persuade  the  Democratic  party  to  take  what  he  called  an 
*^ aggressive  attitude"  in  behalf  of  slavery;  that,  failing- in 
this,  he  and  they  should  have  attempted  to  disintegrate  that 
party ;  and  that  when,  by  these  proceedings,  the  election  of 
a  Republican  President  was  brought  about,  secession  was  at 
once  resolved  on  as  the  only  means  left,  in  their  opinion,  of 
saving  African  slavery  from  ultimate  extermination. 

I  repeat  that,  far  as  I  am,  and  have  ever  been,  from  coin- 
ciding with  Mr.  Yancey  and  his  state-rights  adherents  as  to 
these  matters,  I  am  not  at  all  inclined,  at  this  moment,  to 
heap  opprobrium  upon  his  memory.  His  sincerity  in  utter- 
ance of  his  opinions,  I  do  not  at  all  question,  and  it  is  due  to 
him  to  say  that  his  conduct  as  a  legislator  in  Richmond,  dur- 
ing the  trying  years  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  was  in  the 
highest  degree  marked  with  consistency,  firmness,  and  mattiy 
independence.  Whatever  else  may  be  justly  said  by  the  ene- 
mies of  William  L.  Yancey,  these  truths  may  be  safely 
asserted  of  him :  he  never  sought  to  make  money  by  the 
war;  he  ever  opposed  the  suspension  of  habeas  corpus — a 
measure  so  baneful  to  individual  freedom ;  he  never  gave  his 


240  BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST. 

assent  to  the  displacement  of  able  and  gallant  military  com- 
manders, in  order  to  make  way  for  the  incompetent  favorites 
of  a  prejudiced  and  self-willed  executive  chief ;  /it' never  pro- 
posed to  murder  in  cold  blood  all  the  prisoners  taken  in  war; 
he  never  introduced  a  bill  providing  for  the  permanent  estab- 
lishment of  m.ir.'ial  law ;  he  never  united  in  a  scheme  for  the 
coercing  of  one  of  the  states  deemed  by  him  sovereign,  and 
constraining  it  to  remain  in  a  confederacy  after  it  had  become 
heartily  disgusted  with  it,  and  wished  to  return  to  the  Federal 
Union ;  he  never  voted  for  a  bill  providing  for  the  payment 
of  the  salary  of  the  Confederate  President  in  gold,  whilst  the 
Confederate  soldiers,  in  rags  and  barefoot,  were  refused  the 
wretched  pittance  of  depreciated  paper  which  they  had  been 
allowed  by  law ;  he  had  no  hand  in  the  unpardonable  burning 
of  Richmond,  and,  had  he  survived  so  long  as  the  month  of 
December,  1864 — seeing  the  ruin  then  impending  over  the 
Confederate  cause — he  would,  I  feel  perfectly  assured,  have 
urged,  with  all  the  eloquence  at  his  command,  the  making  of 
peace  with  the  Federal  Government,  on  the  honorable  and 
advantageous  terms  at  that  time  offered  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  as 
all  intelligent  men  now  know. 

Future  generations  will  undoubtedly  recognize  William  L. 
Yancey  as  one  of  the  ablest,  most  far-seeing,  and  most  states- 
manlike personages  that  took  part  in  the  Confederate  strug- 
gle, as  he  was  undeniably  one  of  the  most  profound  jurists 
and  most  eloquent  advocates  that  have  ever  adorned  the  bar 
of  the  South  and  Southwest. 

I  shall  venture  to  add  further  that,  were  William  L.  Yancey 
yet  living,  he  would  rejoice  as  much  as  any  other  man  that 
can  be  mentioned,  over  the  cessation  of  unbrotherly  and  prof- 
itless hostilities,  the  prevalence  of  peace,  concord  and  amity 
once  more  within  our  borders,  and  the  splendid  prospect 
opening  before  us  at  this  blessed  Centennial  period,  of  the 
future  glory,  power  and  felicity  of  this  noble  republic,  one 
and  indivisible. 

I  have  heretofore  failed  altogether  to  make  mention  of  a 
gentleman  long  known  both  in  Tennessee  and  Mississippi  as 
a  member  of  the  bar,  and  in  the  former  of  these  states  as  a 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     24 1 

circuit  judge  for  some  years  and  representative  in  Congress 
of  some  prominence.  In  order  to  do  full  justice  to  the  rare 
traits  of  character  of  James  C.  Mitchell,  the  individual  just 
alluded  to,  I  find  that  it  will  be  necessary  to  offer  a  remark 
or  two  upon  what  is  called  egotism,  or  egoisvi  as  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son has  chosen,  for  some  reason  not  very  apparent,  to  entitle 
it.  Gibbon  commences  his  famous  autobiography  with  a 
confession  that  few  persons  have  been  able  to  speak  grace- 
fully of  themselves ;  and  all  the  world  seems  to  be  united  in 
regarding  a  habitual  and  extravagant  self-laudation  as  de- 
cidedly in  bad  taste  and  not  a  little  disgusting.  Yet  as  the 
history  of  man,  so  far  as  the  same  is  of  any  value,  must,  to  a 
large  extent,  consist  of  individual  experiences,  and  as  we  are 
so  constituted  as  to  be  specially  inclined  to  feel  an  interest 
in  the  narratives  of  persons  of  any  note,  embracing  scenes 
through  which  they  have  passed,  dangers  to  which  they 
have  been  exposed  or  difficulties  which  they  have  had  to 
overcome,  or  which  they  have  been,  perchance,  so  unhappy 
as  to  find  insurmountable — nothing  can  be  well  imagined 
more  absurd  than  to  place  the  cold  hand  of  prohibition  upon 
revelations  made  by  our  associates  of  what  they  have 
chanced  personally  to  see  and  hear  of  the  world's  concerns,, 
or  of  the  perilous  struggles  in  which  they  may  have  been 
compelled  to  participate,  amidst  the  everchanging  circum- 
stances of  a  short  and  eventful  existence.  Those  who  have 
pursued  the  graphic  and  impartial  commentaries  of  Julius 
Caesar,  the  autobiographies  of  such  personages  as  our  own 
Franklin,  Jefferson  and  John  Adams,  the  deeply  entertain- 
ing diaries  of  Evelyn  and  John  Quincy  Adams,  or  the  charm- 
ing memoirs  of  Sully,  or  have  reflected  that  the  poems  of 
Lord  Byron  owe  a  very  large  proportion  of  their  unequalled 
attractiveness  to  the  fact  that  in  these  wondrous  effusions 
this  bold  and  eccentric  genius  has  manifestly  attempted,  like 
Rousseau  in  his  Confessions,  to  give  to  mankind  some  ac- 
count of  his  own  inner  man,  as  well  of  his  outward  manifes- 
tations and  varied  troubles  and  perplexities — will  hardly  be 
inclined  to  pass  a  sweeping  condemnation  upon  all  that  the 
dull  and  uninspired  writings  of  this  generation  have  united 
in  deriding  as  egotistical. 


242     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST, 

But  to  return  to  our  theme  :  James  C.  Mitchell  was  born 
in  the  State  of  Virginia,  and,  as  he  was  fond  of  mentioning, 
in  the  mountainous  portion  of  that  ancient  commonwealth, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  celebrated  Peaks  of  Otter,  to  the 
mystical  influence  of  which,  in  some  way  never  fully  ex- 
plained by  him,  he  attributed  his  majestic  and  erect  figure 
and  his  lofty  and  aspiring  temper  and  intellect.  He  was  a 
good  deal  above  six  feet  in  height,  had  a  massive  and  mus- 
cular frame,  and  a  voice  which,  when  fully  exerted,  was  au- 
dible to  a  great  distance  round  him.  His  physiognomy  was 
strongly  marked  and  his  bodily  strength  and  activity  were 
such  as  few,  if  any,  of  his  associates  could  justly  boast.  He 
was  thought,  by  many,  to  resemble  the  famous  Sam  Hous- 
ton in  person,  and  such,  indeed,  was  Judge  Mitchell's  own 
opinion ;  but  he  ever  maintained  that  his  eyes  were  both 
larger  and  more  lustrous  than  those  of  the  San  Jacinto  hero. 
I  have  heard  the  Judge  say,  more  than  once,  that  when  in 
Congress,  Houston  and  himself  were  much  disposed  to  dress 
in  habiliments  of  the  same  cut  and  color,  and  that,  on  one 
occasion  in  particular,  they  arrayed  themselves  in  a  full  suit 
made  of  cloth,  bottle-green  in  color,  and  strode  down  Penn- 
sylvania avenue  together,  arm  in  arm,  compelling  all  feeble 
pedestrians  to  move  to  the  right  or  left  of  their  line  of  ad- 
vance. Then  it  was,  as  he  said,  that  they  obtained  the  sozi- 
briquet  of  "the  couple,"  which  significant  appellation  was 
afterwards  customarily  applied  to  them  so  long  as  they  staid 
in  Washington.  Houston  himself  used  pleasantly  to  com- 
plain, as  I  have  myself  heard  him  do  more  than  once,  that 
his  friend  Mitchell  was  a  little  too  much  inclined,  when  in 
Congress,  to  claim  superiority  over  his  official  colleagues,  of 
which  I  remember  that  he  cited  this  special  example,  by  way 
of  illustration.  The  Tennessee  members  of  Congress  agreed 
one  morning  to  call  together  upon  some  newly-arrived  for- 
eign minister.  When  they  reached  the  door  of  the  mmis- 
ter's  residence  Judge  Mitchell  advanced,  and  having  rung  the 
door-bell  with  some  vehemence,  when  the  janitor  of  the 
mansion  made  his  appearance  he  handed  him  a  card  in- 
scribed as  follows :  "  General  James  C.  Mitchell  and  the  rest 
of  the  Tennessee  delegation." 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     243 

Whilst  Judge  Mitchell  was  in  Congress,  the  tariff  question 
was  attracting  much  attention.  It  so  happened,  according  to 
his  own  account  of  the  matter,  that  he  was  very  ill  at  this  time 
and  confined  to  his  room  for  several  weeks.  When  he  emerged 
from  his  sick  chamber,  he  found  that  the  pending  tariff 
bill  was  about  being  put  upon  its  passage.  It  was  a  sub- 
ject which  he  had  very  laboriously  examined,  and  which  he 
flattered  himself  he  had  very  thoroughly  mastered.  Though 
still  feeble,  he  determined  to  be  heard,  took  the  floor  accord- 
ingly, and  delivered  a  speech  a  good  deal  commended  at  the 
time  in  party  circles.  When  he  took  his  seat  (as  I  have  sev- 
eral times  heard  him  state),  he  had  occasion  to  pass  the  seat 
occupied  by  the  celebrated  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke, 
who  on  seeing  him  approach,  rose  up  and  saluted  him  cor- 
dially, and  thus  addressed  him  :  "  General  Mitchell,  I  thank 
you,  in  the  name  of  Virginia,  for  your  eloquent  and  noble 
speech.  I  have  heard  none  such  before  since  I  came  into 
Congress.  Allow  me  to  say  further,  that  I  regard  you  as  one 
of  our  most  precious  jewels  ;  yes,  sir,  one  of  our  most  precious 
jewels" 

On  returning  from  Congress,  he  was  elected  to  the  bench 
of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Tennessee.  In  this  new  field  of 
labor,  he  is  admitted  to  have  been  zealous,  active,  and  pains- 
taking. From  my  knowledge  of  him  in  his  after  life,  I  should 
conjecture  that  he  did  not  exhibit  as  a  judge  any  unusual 
degree  of  learning,  though  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  his 
conduct  as  a  judicial  officer  was  upon  the  whole  quite  satis- 
factory. He  is  reported  to  have  been  especially  careful  in 
preserving  the  dignity  of  the  court.  Of  his  excellence  jn 
this  respect,  the  following  characteristic  anecdote  is  related. 
He  was  one  day  presiding  in  the  trial  of  a  civil  case  of  much 
importance,  when  he  was  subjected  to  annoyance  which 
greatly  discomposed  his  feelings;  a  genteel-looking,  well- 
dressed  young  man  walked  through  the  court  room,  once  or 
twice,  wearing  boots  whose  creaking  resounded  through  the 
liall  of  justice  in  a  manner  which  could  not  but  attract  gen- 
eral attention.  "Mr.  Sheriff,"  exclaimed  the  judge,  "  bring 
that  young  man  with  creaking  boots  immediately  before  the 


244     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

court."  This  having  been  done,  and  the  young  man  coming 
forward  with  striking  signs  of  perturbation,  the  judge  thus 
addressed  him  :  "Pray,  how  much  did  your  boots  cost  you?" 
"  Ten  dollars,"  was  the  answer.  "  Well,"  said  the  judge^ 
"  you  will  never  be  able  to  reply  thus  again  ;  the  boots  shall 
cost  you  twenty  dollars.  Enter  up  a  fine  of  ten  dollars," 
said  the  irritated  judge  to  the  clerk  of  the  court,  "against 
this  young  man  for  striding  through  this  court  room  in  creak- 
ing boots ;"  which  was  done  accordingly. 

No  man  could  be  more  desirous  of  diffusing  through  the 
country  a  knowledge  at  least  of  the  elementary  principles  of 
law  than  Judge  Mitchell ;  in  proof  of  which,  I  take  pleasure  in 
stating  that  he  ^lad  formally  taken  upon  himself  the  import- 
ant duty  (which  my  Lord  Coke  so  solemnly  insists  that  every 
attorney  owes  to  his  own  profession)  of  contributing  as  far  as 
he  can  in  his  day  and  generation  to  its  honor  and  usefulness^ 
and  he  had,  with  this  view,  actually  written  a  law  book  of 
reasonable  dimensions,  called  "  Mitchell's  Justice."  In  the 
same  commendable  spirit  he  had  evpn  gone  much  further, 
and  caused  to  be  carried  round  the  circuit  with  him,  whea 
holding  his  successive  courts,  a  number  of  these  precious 
products  of  his  intellect,  to  be  disposed  of  to  such  as  might 
stand  in  particular  need  of  such  information  as  this  wondrous 
volume  contained.  It  is  said  that  the  judge  was  kind  enough 
on  the  first  day  of  each  of  these  courts,  to  make  known 
from  the  bench  that  all  who  wished  to  purchase  "  Mitchell's 
Justice,"  would  be  able  to  do  so  by  calling  at  the  hotel  where 
for  the  time  being  he  was  sojourning. 

•  When  Judge  Mitchell  removed  to  Mississippi,  about  forty 
years  ago,  he  was  beginning  to  show  the  effects  of  growing 
age  upon  his  sturdy  and  gigantic  frame ;  but  he  was  still  full 
of  life,  and  became  soon  very  widely  known  as  a  man  of 
prodigious  colloquial  powers,  and  remarkably  fitted  for  the 
ordinary  discussions  of  the  forum ;  for  no  man  could  talk 
more  glibly  than  he  could  upon  miscellaneous  matters, 
declaim  with  more  fervor,  assume  legal  positions  with  more 
dogmatic  impressiveness — or  pour  forth  a  more  copious  flood 
of   epithets,   without  any  very    fastidious  regard  for    deli- 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     245 

cacy  or  refinement.  He  was  also  at  this  time  a  preacher  of 
the  Gospel,  and  sometimes  in  the  pulpit  was  known  to  thun- 
der forth  discourses  abounding  in  the  boldest  figures  of 
speech,  the  most  glowing  pictures  of  fancy,  and  racy  per- 
sonal anecdotes  of  almost  ev^ery  conceivable  kind  at  all  cal- 
culated either  to  illustrate  the  topics  which  he  discussed,  or 
to  "  split  the  ears  of  those  groundlings,"  to  whom  Shakes- 
peare so  significantly  alludes  in  the  dialogue  between  Ham- 
let and  the  Players. 

Numberless  were  the  stories  told  by  Judge  Mitchell  of 
which  he  was  himself  the  hero,  and  often  have  I  known  the 
lawyers  who  frequented  the  Hinds  Circuit  Court  to  convene 
specially  in  some  spacious  tavern  apartment  at  night,  for  the 
purpose  of  hearing  him  narrate  occurrences  that  he  had  wit- 
nessed, or  describe  achievements  which  he  had  performed ; 
most  of  which  it  must  be  confessed,  were  but  little  in  unison 
with  the  ordinary  experience  of  mankind.  For  hours  would 
this  kind-hearted  and  accommodating  man  contribute  to  our 
entertainment  without  becoming  himself  at  all  exhausted, 
and  without  that  imagmation  of  his,  which  he  so  often  forced 
to  perform  the  accustomed  offices  of  memory,  ever  seeming 
to  flag  for  a  single  instant  of  time. 

I  will  give  here  one  specimen,  out  of  many,  of  these  mar- 
vellous givings-forth,  none  of  which,  by  the  way,  were  ever 
in  the  least  degree  tinctured  with  malevolence  or  deliber- 
ately-intended injustice.     "  Some  years  ago,"  said  the  Judge, 

"it   chanced   that    the     citizens  of   the   town   of   , 

in  Tennessee,  wherein  I  was  myself  a  resident,  assembled  in 
public  meeting  to  make  arrangements  for  the  reception  of  an 
honored  neighbor  of  ours  who  was  about  returning  from  a 
mission  abroad,  where  he  had  well  sustained  the  dignity  of 
the  government  and  supported  his  own  high  reputation  for 
intellect  and  attainments.  It  was  determined  that  he  should 
be  met  at  the  confines  of  the  town,  and  be  suitably  addressed 
by  some  qualified  speaker.  It  being  recollected  that  I  had 
been,  in  my  life,  much  accustomed  to  such  scenes,  and  that 
my  long  residence  at  Washington  had  given  me  familiar  ac- 
quaintance with  all  the  established  rules  of  etiquette,  I  was 


246  BEN'CH    AND    BAR    OF    SOUTH    AND    SOUTHWEST. 

chosen  to  deliver  the  address  of  welcome,  which  I  did,  in  a 
manner  much  commended  by  the  newspapers  of  that  time. 
It  had  been  further  agreed  that  a  grand  ball  should  be  given 
in  honor  of  oUr  respected  ex-minister  and  his  accomplished 
family,  and  I  was  formally  requested  to  accompany  the  beau- 
tiful and  charming  daughter  of  our  returned  friend  to  that 
same  hall,  and  to  be  her  partner  in  the  first  dance :  to  which 
arrangement  I  could  not  but  accede,  not  being  able  to  deny 
that  I  was  quite  as  well  versed  in  the  mysteries  of  the  danc- 
ing art  as  in  the  business  of  public  speaking.  Well,  the  first 
dance  happened  to  be  a  contra-dance.  There  were  at  least 
fifty  couples  upon  the  floor.  My  partner  and  myself  had,  of 
course,  taken  our  stations  at  the  head,  where,  for  a  minute 
or  two,  we  were  the  *  observed  of  all  observers.'  And  well 
we  might  be,  for  a  better-looking  and  more  splendidly- 
dressed  couple  had,  I  am  sure,  never  before  been  seen  on 
terra  firma  since  the  days  of  our  first  parents  in  Paradise. 
The  music  struck  up  and  I  whisked  my  graceful  partner 
through  the  mazes  of  the  dance  with  a  vivacity  and  elegance 
which  I  am  quite  sure  has  never  been  surpassed — whispering 
in  her  ears  as  we  moved  along  such  words  of  soft  and  win- 
ning complaisance  as  men  of  genuine  gallantry  have  ever  at 
their  command,  and  which  ladies  of  taste  and  sensibility 
never  fail  to  appreciate.  When  we  reached  the  foot  of  the 
set  the  captivated  fair  exclaimed,  in  tones  of  thrilling  pathos : 
*Oh!  Judge  Mitchell,  how  I  wish  that  you  were  not  a  mar- 
ried man  ! '  To  this  I  promptly  responded :  *  Most  adorable 
lady,  I  assure  you  that  at  least  one  thousand  of  your  sex 
have  expressed  the  same  wish.'  On  uttering  these  last 
words,  seeing  a  vacant  space  to  my  right,  I  leaped  from  the 
'side  of  my  partner,  full  ten  feet,  turned  a  graceful  and  im- 
pressive somersault,  and,  lighting  firmly  upon  my  feet,  I 
faced  the  astonished  lady,  and,  waving  my  hand  in  token  of 
respect,  I  said :  '  Miss,  pray  tell  me  what  you  think  of  that  ?' 
To  which  inquiry  she  responded :  *  That  is  positively  the 
most  wonderful  exploit  I  ever  witnessed,  and  I  feel  that  it  is 
my  duty  to  apply  to  you  the  words  of  Lord  Byron  when  de- 
scribing George  the  Fourth : 


BENCH    AND    BAR    OF   SOUTH    AND   SOUTHWEST.  247 

*  Without  the  least  alloy  of  fop  or  beau, 
A  perfect  gentleman  from  top  to  toe.' " 
After  the  recital  of  many  scenes  of  a  kindred  nature,  I  re- 
member that  one  of  the  company  asked  the  Judge  what  he 
thought  of  the  newly-nominated  candidate  of  the  Whig  party, 
General  William  Henry  Harrison.  This  was  early  in  the 
summer  of  1840.  The  Judge  answered  at  once  that  he  did 
not  at  all  approve  of  General  Harrison's  nomination ;  that  he 
had  served  with  him  in  Congress  for  several  years,  and  had 
found  him  to  be  a  man  of  very  subordinate  abilities.  He 
stated  other  objections,  not  needful  to  be  here  mentioned, 
several  of  which  were  even  of  a  more  serious  character;  but 
it  may  be  mentioned  as  an  evidence  of  his  remarkable  ver- 
satility of  temper  and  his  disposition  to  make  a  generous 
allowance  for  the  inevitable  deficiencies  of  human  kind,  that 
in  less  than  four  weeks  from  this  merry  nocturnal  assemblage, 
the  good  Judge  was  on  horseback,  moving  through  the  state 
in  every  direction  and  thundering  forth  the  praises  of  "Tippe- 
canoe and  Tyler  too,"  in  front  of  huge  log  cabins,  in  sight  of 
rustic  cider-barrels  and  coon-skins,  and  gaining  a  wide-spread 
notoriety  and  eclat  well  calculated  to  awaken  the  envy  of  less 
skilful  and  eloquent  political  stumpers.  It  is  reported  that 
on  one  of  these  occasions  Judge  Mitchell  displayed  more 
than  his  usual  powers  as  a  bold  and  subtle  party  advocate. 
Some  Democrat  of  the  piney  woods  of  the  state,  the  field  of 
labor  wherein  the  Judge  was  now  operating,  desperately  irri- 
tated at  the  hopeless  prospects  of  his  faction,  undertook  to 
revile  the  Whig  presidential  candidate  in  a  very  sweeping 
and  reckless  manner,  and  even  accused  him,  in  the  hearing 
of  many,  of  being  both  an  idiot  and  a  coward,  charging 
special  mal-conduct  at  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  where  he 
professed  to  have  been  present  in  person.  The  Judge  having 
been  informed  of  these  things  before  he  commenced  his 
speech,  and  having  been  given  the  name  of  the  offender,  who 
was  then  present,  after  a  few  preliminary  remarks  in  com- 
mendation of  General  Harrison  as  a  military  chieftain,  re- 
ferred to  the  slanders  then  in  circulation,  and  bawled  out  the 
name  of  the  man  who  had  placed  himself  in  the  attitude  of 


248      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

an  accuser.  Upon  his  responding,  the  following  dialogue  en- 
sued: 

Judge  Mitchell.—"  Did  you  say  that  you  were  at  the  battle 
of  Tippecanoe,  and  that  you  saw  General  Harrison  display 
evidences  of  cowardice  ?" 

Accuser. — "  I  did." 

Judge  M. — "  Did  you  see  me  there,  sir?"  (Staring  at  him 
most  ferociously.) 

Accuser. — "  I  do  not  remember  seeing  you." 

Judge  M. — "  Yet,  sir,  I  was  there,  and  was  by  General  Har- 
rison's side  throughout  that  scene ;  and  if  you  had  really  been 
present,  you  could  not  have  failed  to  see  me."  Then,  turning 
to  the  crowd,  he  exclaimed  :  "  See,  fellow  citizens,  how  easily 
this  liar  has  been  refuted.  So  perish  all  the  calumniators  of 
the  immortal  hero  of  Tippecanoe  !  "  Thus  closed  this  curious 
scene. 

Only  a  year  or  two  previous  to  Judge  Mitchell's  death,  he 
was  a  candidate  in  the  county  of  Hinds,  for  a  seat  in  the 
state  legislature.  At  a  large  popular  meeting  near  the  little 
village  of  Spring  Hill,  Colonel  Dupree,  an  opposing  candi- 
date; said  or  did  something  which  called  forth  in  full  display 
the  Judge's  acknowledged  powers  of  ridicule.  Dupree, 
growing  impatient  under  his  merciless  assailment,  exclaimed: 
"Judge  Mitchell,  so  soon  as  you  descend  from  that  stand,  I 
shall  whip  you."  "  Very  possibly  you  may,"  coolly  responded 
the  Judge ;  "  but  (continuing  to  address  him)  I  will  make  known 
to  you  that  your  doing  so  is  not  at  all  likely  to  give  you  suc- 
cess in  the  pending  canvass,  or  prove  your  ability  to  make 
laws ;  for  I  recollect  that  when  I  lived  in  East  Tennessee,  my 
father  had  a  /;////  that  could  whip  any  other  bull  in  the  neigh- 
borhood ;  but  I  never  heard  it  said  that  he  could  legislate." 

For  the  benefit  of  political  speakers  generally,  I  should 
not  omit  to  mention  that  Judge  Mitchell  professed  to  have 
made  an  important  discovery  in  the  mysteries  of  the  art, 
alleging  that,  in  order  to  make  a  perfectly  safe  and  effective 
electioneering  harangue,  it  was  needful  that  the  speaker 
should  carefully  avoid  ever  making  a  single  distinct  point. 
"A  speech  of  this   kind,"  he   was  in  the  habit  of  saying. 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     249 

"  s/iould  be  blown  up  like  a  bladder,  leaving  no  handle  to  be 
seized  by  the  adversary."  It  is  a  somewhat  curious  coinci- 
dence, that  the  great  Addison  should,  in  one  of  his  most 
exquisitely  humorous  numbers,  have  inculcated  something  like 
the  same  idea,  when  he  ironically  felicitates  an  opponent  upon 
having  written  an  article  not  capable  of  being  responded  to 
by  reason  of  its  consummate  nonsense ;  insisting,  as  he  very 
gravely  does,  that  nonsense,  or  no-sense — which  is  just  the 
same  thing — is  the  most  potential  of  all  the  elements  of  con- 
troversial discussion — since  it  neither  asserts  a  fact,  nor  states 
a  proposition,  by  the  negation  of  which  refutation  might  be- 
come possible. 

Just  as  I  was  writing  this  sketch,  a  brother  attorney  to 
■whom  Judge  Mitchell  was  well  known  reminded  me  of  his 
claim  to  have  much  stronger  powers  of  vision  than  ordinary 
men ;  in  proof  of  which  the  Judge  was  accustomed  to  cite 
two  sufficiently  remarkable  proofs,  which  were  as  follows: 
One  day,  standing  in  the  City  of  Murfreesboro,  he  called  the 
attention  of  a  number  of  gentlemen  to  the  movements  of  a 
wild  turkey,  which  he  professed  plainly  to  see  in  Hoover's 
Gap,  distant  about  five  miles ;  which,  of  course,  no  one  else 
was  able  to  discern.  On  another  occasion,  when  standing  on 
the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  river,  he  saw,  as  he  reported,  a 
steamboat  coming  towards  him,  and  read  the  words,  "Red 
Rover"  painted  upon  her  sides,  when  distant  fully  six  miles  ! 

It  has  been  now  nearly  forty  years  since  the  Hon.  J.  L. 
Alcorn  located  in  the  State  of  Mississippi.  He  became  a 
resident  of  one  of  the  newly  laid-off  counties  of  the  state 
(Coahoma),  and  practiced  his  profession  in  several  adjoining 
counties,  making  Friar's  Point  his  place  of  residence.  There 
was  then  but  little  law  business  in  this  section  of  the  state, 
but,  in  a  few  years,  as  the  country  became  settled  and  sub- 
jected to  the  culture  of  cotton,  much  litigation  of  every  kind 
sprang  up,  and  General  Alcorn's  natural  vigor  of  intellect, 
remarkable  industry,  and  thorough  knowledge  of  law,  secured 
to  him  a  business  both  extensive  and  profitable.  He  is  a 
man  of  uncommon  enterprise,  and  his  familiar  acquaintance 
with  the  rich  and  productive  region  in  which  he  is  located. 


250     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

united  with  his  unsurpassed  aptitude  for  speculative  opera- 
tions, very  soon  opened  the  way  to  him  for  the  acquisition  of 
large  bodies  of  valuable  lands  and  ultimate  affluence.  He  is 
one  of  the  most  extensive  cotton  planters  that  the  South  has 
known,  and  is  said  to  raise  upon  his  various  plantations  as 
much  as  from  twelve  to  fifteen  hundred  bales  of  cotton  per 
annum.  His  active  and  successful  career  as  a  politician  has 
brought  him  very  prominently  before  the  public  view,  and 
his  genial  temper  and  fascinating  manners  have  surrounded 
him  with  numerous  admiring  friends. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

,     David  C.  Glenn.— Chancellor  Chalmers.— William  H   Haskell.— Spencer  Jarn^- 
gin.— Milton  Brown.— David  C.  Humphreys. — Edwin  Ewing. — William  F.  Cooper. 

The  reader  of  these  pages  has  been  already  advised  that  in. 
what  I  have  been  writing  for  his  entertainment,  I  have  not 
judged  it  necessary  to  pay  a  strict  regard  to  chronological 
order;  not  aiming  at  anything  like  historic  method  in  the  no- 
tices I  was  taking  of  facts  and  persons,  for  the  presentation  of 
which  I  should  have  to  be  indebted  to  such  reminiscences  as 
might  chance  to  arise  in  my  mind,  whilst  recurring  casually, 
from  time  to  time,  to  those  varied  fields  of  observation  with 
which  I  have  been  to  some  extent  familiar  for  more  than  a 
half  century  past.  Continuing  to  pursue  this  desultory  course 
of  delineation,  I  shall  now  bring  forward  a  gentleman  to  whom 
some  allusion  has  been  already  made,  and  who  was  at  one  time 
a  busy  and  influential  actor  amid  scenes  not  likely  to  be  .soon, 
forgotten  by  those  who  prominently  participated  therein. 
David  C.  Glenn  was  by  birth  a  Virginian,  and  cherished  a 
strong  regard  for  ancestral  honors  and  the  historic  glories  of 
the  past,  such  as  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  venerated 
"Ancient  Dominion"  have  been  wont  to  display  "from  time 
whereof  the  memory  of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrarj'." 
He  was  unfortunate  enough  to  lose  his  father  by  death,  when 
yet  an  infant,  and  had  to  be  indebted  to  the  kind  offices  of  an 
amiable  and  accomplished  uncle  for  the  education  and  moral 
training  bestowed  on  him.  That  uncle  was  the  late  Chancel- 
lor Chalmers,  who  was  himself  a  well-informed  and  well-pat- 
ronized lawyer,  and  who  practiced  in  the  town  of  Holly 
Springs  for  many  years,  in  partnership  with  Roger  Barton,  of 
whom  particular  mention  has  been  already  made.  Chancellor 
Chalmers  was  at  one  time  a  member  of  the  National  Senate. 
He  was  the  immediate  successor  in  that  illustrious  body  of 
Robert  I.  Walker,  and  the  immediate  predecessor  of  the  pres-^ 


252     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

ent  writer.  Mr.  Chalmers,  during  his  brief  membership  in  the 
Senate,  is  understood  to  have  conducted  himself  with  uniform 
modesty  and  decorum,  but  to  have  had  no  opportunity  opened 
to  him  of  acquiring  lasting  renown.  His  nephew,  now  under 
review,  was  tenderly  devoted  to  him.  and  was  supposed  by 
some  not  to  be  wholly  unlike  him  in  person  or  character; 
though  it  is  certain  that  David  C.  Glenn  was  of  a  much  loftier 
stature  than  his  uncle,  and  displayed  in  the  progress  of  his 
'Career  as  a  public  man  an  amount  of  intellectual  power,  blended 
with  a  fiery  energy  of  soul,  to  which  the  protector  of  his  boy- 
hood could  not  have  justly  laid  claim.  When  I  first  saw  Col. 
Glenn,  he  was  only  in  the  20th  year  of  his  age.  He  had  been 
specially  commended  to  my  care  by  his  friends,  and,  as  one  of 
the  Democratic  Presidential  electors  of  1844,  for  the  State  of 
Mississippi,  I  labored  hard  in  the  electoral  college  to  have  him 
sent  on  to  Washington  as  carrier  of  the  vote  of  that  common- 
wealth, a  station  which  my  young  friiend  very  much  coveted. 
Unfortunately  for  him,  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  was  a  co-elector, 
and  he  succeeded  in  defeating  my  wish  upon  this  subject,  and 
procuring  a  favorite  of  his  own  to  be  appointed  in  his  stead. 

Colonel  Glenn,  young  as  he  was,  had  delivered  several  very 
brilliant  and  effective  speeches  in  the  Presidential  canvass  of 
1844,  and  had  already  obtained  license  to  practice  law.  I  have 
a  very  agreeable  reminiscence  of  a  curious  speech  delivered 
by  him  in  a  Democratic  convention  which  assembled  in 
the  City  of  Jackson  about  this  period,  in  which  he  undertook 
to  prefer  regular  articles  of  impeachment  against  the  promi- 
nent chief  of  the  Whig  party,  and  in  which  he  displayed 
very  remarkable  powers,  as  all  present  concurred  in  thinking, 
as  a  prosecuting  attorney.  He  is  even  said  to  have  been  in- 
debted in  some  degree  to  this  bold  and  unsparing  harangue  for 
"the  nomination  which  he  subsequently  received  for  the  office 
of  attorney-general  of  the  state,  on  the  Democratic  ticket. 
Certain  it  is  that  he  immediately  thereafter  commenced  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  the  City  of  Jackson.  Nor  was  he 
long  in  obtaining  extensive  employment  as  an  attorney,  and 
in  acquiring  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  graceful,  impressive, 
•and  energetic  forensic  advocate. 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     253, 

Colonel  Glenn  is  said  very  early  to  have  imbibed  all  the 
distinctive  notions  of  the  extreme  States  Rights  party  of  the 
South;  he  became  an  almost  idolatrous  admirer  of  John  C.  Cal- 
houn, and,  when  that  illustrious  personage  formally  declared, 
in  the  summer  of  1850,  his  opinion  that  if  California  should 
be  admitted  into  the  Union  as  an  additional  free  state,  it  would 
be  the  duty  of  the  slave  states  at  once  to  withdraw  therefrom^ 
no  one  was  a  more  zealous  and  thorough-going  advocate  of 
this  policy  than  the  eloquent  and  accomplished  attorney-gen- 
eral of  Mississippi.  He  was  among  the  foremost  of  those 
who,  in  connection  with  John  A.  Quitman,  Jefferson  Davis 
and  others,  struggled  so  fiercely  and  zealously  at  that  period 
to  draw  the  State  of  Mississippi  into  a  co-operative  compact  of 
disunion  with  the  State  of  South  Carolina.  It  is  doing  na 
wrong  to  others  to  declare  that  the  speeches  made  by  Colonel 
Glenn  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1 851,  in  support  of  the 
Secession  cause,  were  by  far  the  ablest  which  I  heard  from  the 
extremists  of  that  period  anywhere  in  the  State  of  Mississippi^ 

No  one  can  well  doubt  that  this  gentleman,  and  a  majority 
of  those  who  were  then  acting  with  him,  were  perfectly  honest 
and  conscientious  in  the  views  to  which  they  gave  expression; 
which  views,  by  the  bye,  only  lacked  about  five  hundred  votes 
of  obtaining  practical  enforcement,  since  Mr.  Davis  was  only 
beaten  in  the  election  for  governor  nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  votes !  I  repeat  that  the  opinions  uttered  by  Colonel 
Glenn  and  most  of  his  associates,  in  favor  of  the  proposed 
plan  of  co-operation,  however  unwise  and  dangerous  in  their 
tendency,  were  sincerely  entertained  by  them  ;  which  view  of 
the  matter  will  be  regarded  as  altogether  reasonable  by  those 
who  will  take  into  consideration  the  following  facts  :  i.  Their 
venerated  leader,  Mr.  Calhoun,  had  taught  them  in  a  manner 
not  a  little  imposing,  that  no  political  freedom  worth  possess- 
ing could  exist  in  this  country,  except  such  as  might  have 
African  slavery  for  its  basis;  that  the  admission  of  California 
as  a  free  state  would  inevitably  bring  about  the  destruction  of 
slavery;  and  that  the  co-operative  action  of  two  or  more  of  the 
slave-holding  states  of  the  South  in  the  adoption  of  secession 
ordinances  would  certainly  be  acquiesced  in  by  the  free  states^ 


:254     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

SO  that  secession  would  become  an  accomplished  fact  without 
incurring  the  evils  of  civil  war.  2.  These  views  were  noto- 
•riously  countenanced  in  high  quarters  north  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  Line.  3.  It  was  known  that  several  leading  Demo- 
cratic statesmen  of  the  North  were  of  opinion  that  the  Federal 
Government  had  no  coercive  power  in  opposition  to  the  de- 
clared will  of  sovereign  states ;  which  strange  and  pernicious 
dogma  was  nine  years  later  formally  avowed  by  James  Bu- 
chanan, as  President  of  the  United  States,  and  by  his  accom- 
plished attorney-general,  Jeremiah  S.  Black.  4.  The  enthu- 
siastic champions  of  secession  in  the  South  had  universally 
adopted  the  strange  and  unfounded  notion  that  domestic  slav- 
ery would  not  only  not  be  at  all  enfeebled,  but  actually 
strengthened  and  solidified,  by  the  cancellation  of  those  or- 
ganic guarantees  which  had  so  long  upheld  it  against  the 
general  public  sentiment  of  the  Christian  world.  5.  It  un- 
fortunately did  not  at  all  strike  the  minds  of  these  gentlemen 
that,  after  the  Union  should  have  been  broken  into  two  dis- 
tinct sovereignties,  it  would  become  at  all  more  difficult  to 
•obtain  the  return  oi  fugitives  front  service  than  it  had  been  in 
past  time,  under  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  unsevered 
republic.  6.  They  had  been  taught  to  believe,  and  verily  did 
believe,  that  in  the  new  state  of  things  mentioned,  there  would 
be  no  danger  of  perpetual  border  hostilities,  and  no  necessity 
of  large  standing  armies  on  both  sides  of  the  line  of  territor- 
ial separation,  tending  constantly  to  the  establishment  of  rival 
military  despotisms.  All  this  will  doubtless  appear  not  a  little 
surprising  to  the  sober-minded  and  experience-illuminated 
men  of  future  generations  ;  but  it  is  incumbent  upon  us,  to 
whom  the  particulars  are  perfectly  well  known,  to  exercise  a 
charitable  allowance  for  those  who,  blinded  by  temporary  de- 
lusion, enlisted  in  movements  from  which  such  disastrous 
results  were  soon  to  flow.  The  class  of  sectional  politicians 
with  which  Colonel  Glenn  was  proud  of  being  affiliated  were 
far  from  relinquishing  the  project  of  disunion  which  had  been 
barely  defeated  in  185 1.  They  resolved,  by  nursing  their  sec- 
tional wrath,  to  keep  it  warm,  and  to  change  their  modus  oper- 
andi in  several  material  respects.     It  will  be  recollected  by 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      255 

some,  that  they  were  much  favored  by  circumstances  from  the 
time  of  Mr.  Pierce's  coming  into  power,  and  the  accession  of 
a  leading  advocate  of  disunion  to  the  office  of  secretary  of 
war,  who,  for  four  years,  was  notoriously  allowed  to  use  all 
the  patronage  of  the  government  to  make  secession  popular, 
and  discredit  the  Union  cause. 

Colonel  Glenn  was  therefore  fully  prepared  to  second  the 
movements  of  Mr.  Yancey  in  i860  ;  to  aid  in  breaking  up  the 
Democratic  Convention  at  Charleston,  and  disrupting  the  Dem- 
ocratic party ;  thereby  securing  the  election  of  a  Republican 
President,  with  a  view  to  realizing  the  glories  of  Secession 
under  his  administration  by  the  joint  action  of  the  whole 
body  of  the  slave-holding  states.  The  prominent  position 
assumed  by  Colonel  Glenn  in  the  Charleston  Convention  is 
too  well  remembered  by  the  whole  country  to  need  specifica- 
tion here,  and  the  disastrous  consequences  which  afterwards 
resulted  from  the  unwise  policy  then  adopted  by  the  followers 
of  Mr.  Yancey  are  too  fresh  in  the  recollections  of  all  men 
of  intelligence  to  justify  me  in  expatiating  thereupon  when 
engaged  in  delineating  the  character  of  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable members  of  the  bar  of  Mississippi  who  flourished 
in  these  times  of  tempest  and  commotion.  Colonel  Glenn 
did  not  live  long  enough  to  behold  the  fearful  scenes  of 
slaughter  and  devastation  which  have  come  upon  his  native 
land  since  his  memorable  withdrawal  from  the  Charleston 
Convention,  followed,  as  it  was,  very  quickly  by  that  of  the 
president  of  the  body,  Caleb  Gushing,  the  American  Talley- 
rand, who  has  figured  conspicuously  in  so  many  excited 
political  factions,  and  has  thus  far  uniformly  succeeded  in 
winning  the  favor  and  confidence  of  the  winning  party. 

How  much  astonished  would  this  generous-minded  and 
confiding  champion  of  secession  have  been  could  he  have 
foreseen  that  so  soon  as  a  sectional  war  should  have  broken 
out,  this  same  Caleb  Gushing  would  be  found  tendering  that 
wrathful  sword  of  his  which  had  been  erst  so  bloodlessly 
flourished  upon  the  plains  of  Mexico,  to  a  patriotic  Republi- 
can administration,  which  he  had  aided  so  materially  in  get- 
ting into  power— for  the  exemplary  chastisement  of  those 


<^>- 


256      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

allies  whom  he  had  led  to  the  very  edge  of  that  fearful  vortex 
of  civil  strife  which  has  swallowed  up  well-nigh  a  million  of 
valiant  and  liberty-loving  American  freemen  !  How  Colonel 
Glenn's  generous  and  heroic  soul  would  have  been  convulsed 
could  he  have  then  had  distinct  prescience  that  another  of 
his  loved  and  admired  States  Rights  allies  of  the  North,  B. 
F.  Butler,  would,  in  a  short  year  or  two,  be  enlisted  in  a  war 
for  the  putting  down  of  the  rebellion,  even  at  that  time  ex- 
isting in  its  embryo  state,  and  be  gaining  a  peculiar  glory  as 
the  commander  of  troops  of  African  descent  and  lineage,  for 
the  wasting  of  Southern  plantations  and  the  dispeopling  of 
Southern  cities  and  country  places!  God,  in  his  mercy^ 
saved  him  from  beholding  horrors  such  as  some  of  us  have 
seen  and  felt.  Long  ago  this  brilliant  advocate,  this  able 
and  learned  jurist,  this  warm-hearted  and  proud-spirited  gen- 
tleman has  ceased  to  participate  in  the  affairs  of  earth  and 
gone  far  beyond  the  din  of  party  clamor  and  the  noise  of 
fratricidal  conflict.     Requiescat  in  pace  ! 

William  H.  Haskell,  in  former  days,  attracted  much  atten- 
tion as  a  member  of  the  bar  of  Tennessee,  and  awakened  a 
wide-spread  admiration  as  a  brilliant  and  effective  popular 
speaker.  His  mind  was  one  of  much  quickness  and  energy ; 
his  imagination  was  easily  excited  to  action,  and.  when  fully 
roused,  displayed  a  fertility  and  pictorial  splendor  not  often 
exemplified.  He  had  great  powers  of  ridicule,  and  some- 
times uttered  words  of  burning  indignation  which  those  who 
heard  him  could  not  soon  forget.  His  argumentative  powers 
were  far  from  being  contemptible,  and  he  had  a  turn  for  re- 
partee with  which  but  few  of  his  contemporaries  were  equally 
endowed.  His  heart  was  warm  and  sympathizing;  he  was 
stead}'  and  tenacious  in  his  friendships;  of  a  most  kindly  and 
placable  temper,  and  of  a  personal  bravery  unquestioned. 
Had  he  been  of  a  less  inflammable  temperament,  somewhat 
more  inclined  to  the  study  of  books  of  science,  and  a  little 
less  inclined  to  occupy  his  time  in  scenes  of  pleasurable  en- 
joyment, he  would  infallibly  have  reached  heights  of  distinc- 
tion and  deserved  fame  to  which  only  men  of  surpassing 
genius  and  of  elaborate  and  thorough  intellectual  culture  can 
reasonably  expect  to  attain. 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.      2$/ 

Of  Spencer  Jarnagin  I  should  be  pleased  to  say  more  than 
my  personal  knowledge  of  him  would  seem  to  justify.  I 
met  him  once  in  Washington,  when  he  was  a  member  of  the 
National  Senate,  but  never  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  him 
debate.  He  was  born  and  brought  up  in  East  Tennessee,  and 
prepared  himself  for  the  practice  of  law  in  the  office  of  Hugh 
L.  White.  There  were  some  peculiarities  in  his  manner  of 
speaking  which  seem  to  deserve  special  notice.  He  was  not 
possessed  of  an  imagination  at  all  remarkable  for  vigor,  splen- 
dor or  fertility.  He  seldom  attempted  declamation,  and 
rarely  indulged  in  what  is  known  as  pathos.  When  he  did 
so,  his  reputation  as  a  forensic  advocate  was  sure  to  receive 
more  or  less  of  detriment.  His  head  was  one  of  the  clearest 
in  the  world ;  his  powers  of  reasoning  upon  facts  and  law 
commingled  were  such  as  to  call  forth  warm  commendation 
whenever  they  were  put  in  exercise.  His  language  was  al- 
ways simple,  well  chosen  and  impressive.  His  elocution 
was  pleasing,  animated  and  free  from  all  superfluity.  His 
voice  was  of  a  soft  and  silvery  intonation,  like  the  gentle  run- 
ning of  some  unimpeded  rivulet.  It  is  said  that  there  was  a 
mysterious  charm  about  his  utterances  when  engaged  in  the 
calm  and  unimpassioned  discussion  of  legal  principles,  which 
rendered  it  positively  delightful  to  listen  to  him,  and  almost 
impossible  for  any  man  of  sound  and  discerning  intellect  to 
leave  the  court  house  whilst  Mr.  Jarnagin  was  upon  his  feet. 
His  success  as  a  jury  lawyer  was  such  that  litigants  felt  al- 
most certain  of  winning  their  cases  when  they  were  so  fortu- 
nate as  to  be  represented  by  Spencer  Jarnagin.  He  was  a 
very  near  relative  to  the  celebrated  Barton  of  Missouri,  who 
was  for  some  years  the  colleague  in  the  United  States  Senate 
of  Thomas  H.  Benton,  and  who  is  known  to  have  repeatedly 
driven  the  latter  from  the  senatorial  hall  by  the  vehemence 
and  pungency  of  his  invective  and  the  irresistible  power  of 
his  ridicule.  Judge  Hugh  L.  White,  who  knew  Senator  Bar- 
ton well  before  he  left  Tennessee,  and  was  afterwards  inti- 
mately associated  with  him  in  the  Senate,  was  accustomed  to 
say  that  this  gentleman  and  his  kinsman  Jarnagin  were  so 
much  alike  in  person,  as  well  as  in  regard  to  voice  and  man- 


258      BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

ner  of  speaking,  that,  at  a  little  distance,  it  would  have  been 
quite  difficult  to  distinguish  them  from  each  other. 

Mr.  Jarnagin  did  not  attain  a  very  high  rank  in  the  Senate, 
and  is  reported  to  have  had  but  little  relish  for  the  duties 
there  devolved  on  him.  He  is  admitted  to  have  excelled  in 
the  relation  of  apt  and  facetious  anecdotes,  and  to  have  been 
particularly  felicitous  in  the  framing  of  fictitious  stories  of  a 
purely  innocent  character,  which  he  oftentimes  told,  to  the 
infinite  amusement  of  all  in  hearing  of  his  graphic  and  ludi- 
crous recitals.  He  was  universally  recognized  as  a  kind- 
hearted,  genial  and  affable  gentleman,  and  his  presence  in 
social  circles  was  always  a  matter  of  special  rejoicing  and 
gratulation. 

With  Milton  Brown,  of  Jackson,  West  Tennessee,  I  have 
long  been  upon  familiar  and  intimate  terms.  He  is  a  native 
of  the  State  of  Ohio,  but  located  in  Tennessee  in  the  days  of 
young  and  lusty  manhood.  He  practiced  law  in  the  various 
courts  of  the  state  for  many  years,  and  acquired  a  high  repu- 
tation for  industry,  probity  and  all  lawyerlike  accomplish- 
ments. His  knowledge  of  law  is  full  and  accurate ;  his 
reasoning  powers  are  much  above  mediocrity,  and  his  astute- 
ness and  skill  in  the  management  of  his  causes  are  univer- 
sally acknowledged.  He  is  understood  to  have  accumu- 
lated, by  his  professional  labors,  quite  a  large  fortune,  and  is 
now,  in  the  evening  of  his  days,  enjoying  all  the  dignity  and 
comfort  which  health,  prosperity  and  troops  of  loving  and 
admiring  friends  have  it  in  their  power  to  confer. 

David  Campbell  Humphreys  is  now  one  of  the  judges  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  but  was  born 
in  North  Alabama,  and  is  derived  from  most  respectable  Ten- 
nessee ancestry.  I  knew  Judge  Humphreys  well  when  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Huntsville  bar,  where  he  was  always 
held  in  high  esteem.  He  is  a  man  of  sterling  integrity,  of  the 
highest  moral  courage,  and  as  unswerving  a  patriot  as  ever 
lived.  He  has  been  in  his  time  subjected  to  the  severest 
tests,  and  has  never  failed  to  sustain  himself  with  dignity  un- 
der all  circumstances.  He  is  a  well-read  lawyer,  an  indus- 
trious and  painstaking  judge,  and  as  far  from  all  obliquity  of 
purpose  as  any  man  that  the  country  has  produced. 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     259 

Edwin  Ewing  has  been  long  and  favorably  known  to  intel- 
ligent citizens  in  every  part  of  the  Republic.  Having  the 
advantage  of  a  thorough  collegiate  education,  he  entered 
upon  his  career  as  a  member  of  the  Nashville  bar  many  years 
since,  under  most  favorable  circumstances.  His  legal  learn- 
ing and  ability  would  secure  him  a  high  rank  in  any  com- 
mercial city  on  the  continent.  There  is  no  department  of 
legal  learning  that  he  has  not  mastered ;  no  decided  case  of 
special  importance  which  he  has  not  examined,  and  but  few 
branches  of  useful  learning  with  which  he  is  not  more  or 
less  familiar.  Judge  Ewing  has  long  been  recognized  as  a 
leading  barrister  in  all  the  counties  of  Middle  Tennessee,  and 
his  reputation  for  integrity  and  patriotism  is  second  to  none. 
If  popular  approval  and  support  were  always  bestowed  in 
proportion  to  merit  and  qualification,  Edwin  Ewing  would 
long  since  have  been  chosen  to  occupy  a  seat  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  for  which  honor  he  has  been  once  or 
twice  a  disappointed  suitor. 

I  have  already  spoken  in  terms  of  respect  and  commenda- 
tion of  the  Bench  and  Bar  generally  of  the  State  of  Tennes- 
see ;  and  I  am  quite  sure  that  a  half  dozen  volumes  might  be 
conveniently  written  upon  this  inspiring  and  attractive  subject. 
Of  the  judges  now  constituting  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State,  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying  that  since  they  reached 
their  present  high  positions  they  have  every  day  grown  in 
the  public  esteem  and  confidence,  and  that  no  tribunal  can  be 
mentioned  in  any  part  of  the  Republic  where  the  administra- 
tion of  perfect  justice  may  be  more  confidently  expected,  or 
where  a  more  patient  and  courteous  hearing  may  be  looked 
for  on  the  part  of  counsel,  however  humble  in  standing  or 
inexperienced  in  practice.  The  judges  presiding  in  the  vari- 
ous local  tribunals  of  Tennessee  are  for  the  most  part  men  of 
ability  and  learning,  and  have  in  general  been  fortunate  enough 
to  escape  all  suspicions  of  partiality  or  corruption.  Several 
of  those  gentlemen  at  the  present  moment  officiating  in  the 
circuit  courts  and  courts  of  chancery  might  be  mentioned  in 
terms  of  the  warmest  commendation  without  at  all  transcend- 
ing the  bounds  of  truth  and  justice. 


260     BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST. 

I  am  sure  I  shall  be  excused  for  singling  out  one  of  the 
chancellors  of  the  state  for  such  laudatory  mention  as  I  can- 
not but  regard  as  due  to  him.  Judge  William  F.  Cooper,  the 
present  distinguished  Chancellor  of  Davidson  county,  was 
born  in  one  of  the  counties  of  Middle  Tennessee  and  is  now 
in  the  prime  of  life.  He  commenced  his  professional  career 
in  the  City  of  Nashville  under  most  auspicious  circumstances. 
He  is  supposed  to  owe  his  early  and  extensive  success  as  an 
attorney  in  some  degree  to  a  most  judicious  partnership 
which  he  contracted  with  Messrs.  Edwin  and  Andrew  Ewing. 
His  mind  is  acknowledged  by  all  who  know  him  to  be  particu- 
larly adapted  to  the  legal  profession.  His  knowledge  of 
jurisprudence  generally  is  such  as  few  men  in  any  country 
have  been  known  to  attain.  His  familiarity  with  both  ancient 
and  modern  literature  is  universally  admitted.  His  knowledge 
of  the  dead  and  living  languages  is  such  as  American  attor- 
neys are  seldom  found  to  possess.  He  has  never  been  recog- 
nized as  a  brilliant  or  fascinating  speaker;  but  he  always  ex- 
presses himself  in  clear  and  forcible  language  ;  is  never  at  all 
at  a  loss  either  for  words  or  ideas ;  and  his  forensic  argu- 
ments are  uniformly  marked  with  a  cogency  and  impressive- 
ness  which  command  the  profound  respect  both  of  the  bench 
and  bar.  He  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  skilful  and  elegant 
draughtsmen  of  legal  papers  west  of  the  AJleghany  moun- 
tains ;  and  his  briefs  are  ever  distinguished  for  conciseness, 
lucidness,  and  profound  legal  learning.  His  mind  is  at  once 
astute,  vigorous  and  prompt  in  action.  His  aptitude  for  busi- 
ness is  really  wonderful,  and  his  patience  of  severe  intellect- 
ual labor  is  inexhaustible.  His  temper  is  not  easily  ruffled, 
and  he  is  not  a  little  remarkable  for  kindness  of  heart,  easy 
civility,  and  genial  affability.  In  connection  with  Mr.  Meigs, 
formerly  an  eminent  member  of  the  Nashville  bar,  Judge 
Cooper  prepared  the  present  Code  of  Tennessee,  and  it  was 
only  two  days  since  that  I  heard  Mr.  Meigs  remark  that 
he  should  not  be  satisfied  until  the  people  of  Tennessee 
shall  have  elevated  Judge  Cooper  to  the  highest  judicial  office 
in  their  gift.  I  have  just  had  the  opportunity  of  examin- 
ing with  attention  the  admirable  volume  of  Equity  Reports^ 


BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.     26 1 

just  published,  containing  his  decisions  in  equity.  It  con- 
tains a  considerable  number  of  the  opinions  delivered  by 
him  since  he  was  elevated  to  the  chancery  bench  some  two 
or  three  years  since.  These  opinions  are  such  as  would  un- 
doubtedly have  done  credit  to  any  judge  that  our  country 
has  yet  known.  They  are  replete  with  jurisprudential  learn- 
ing, and  are  equally  distinguished  by  logical  vigor  and  acute- 
ness,  classic  elegance  of  expression,  and  the  most  impressive 
and  commendable  impartiality.  The  questions  which  he  has 
been  called  upon  to  decide  were  many  of  them  of  a  most 
complex  character,  concerning  which  the  ablest  jurists  both 
in  this  country  and  in  Great  Britain  have  for  a  long  time 
painfully  conflicted ;  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  declaring 
that  in  my  judgment,  Chancellor  Cooper  has  done  as  much  as 
any  other  judge  that  can  be  mentioned  in  dissipating  ob- 
scurities, in  disentangling  the  confused  reasonings  of  others, 
in  dissolving  ambiguities,  and  in  establishing  sound  and  salu- 
tary juridical  principles.  I  have  read  every  page  of  this  re- 
markable volume  of  reports  with  such  gratification  as  few 
books  of  any  kind  have  ever  afforded  me,  and  I  feel  that  I 
can  honestly  recommend  it  to  the  members  of  the  profession 
generally  as  not  only  worthy  of  their  perusal,  but  as  deserv- 
ing of  a  permanent  place  in  their  libraries. 

I  had  the  goo'd  fortune  to  witness  the  enunciation  from  the 
bench  of  several  of  the  most  elaborate  opinions  contained 
in  the  volume  referred  to,  and  can  attest  that  they  were  read 
in  hearing  of  the  bar  in  a  graceful  and  impressive  manner, 
and  with  a  distinctness  of  articulation  altogether  superior  to  the 
clumsy,  hum-drum,  and  half-whispering  utterances  to  which 
we  are  constrained  so  often  to  listen  now-a-days  in  courts  of 
last  resort.  There  is  one  of  these  opinions  to  which  I  shall 
venture  specially  to  refer  as  containing  by  far  the  most  lu- 
minous exposition  of  the  obscure  and  long-disputed  doctrine 
of  ''Fixtures "  I  have  ever  met ;  and  if  space  permitted  I 
would  set  forth  here  the  whole  of  what  fell  from  Chancellor 
Cooper's  lips  on  this  subject  with  a  confident  belief  that  others 
would  be  as  much  interested  as  I  have  been  with  this  remark- 
able specimen  of  juridical  eloquence.' 

»  See  the  case  referred  to,  which  may  be  found  on  p.  22  of  Vol.  1, 
Tennessee  Chancery  Reports. 


IKDEX    OF    I^AMES. 


Adams,  Daniel  W 78 

Adams,  George 78 

Adams,  George  W 224 

Adams,  Robert  H 24 

Alcorn,  J.  L 249 

Allen ,  Gen 104 

Anderson,  Peter.. 221 

Anderson,  William  E 82 

Ashley,  Chester 185 

Barton,  Roger iii,  251 

Barton,  Senator iii,  257 

Barton,  Seth 203 

Bell,  John 122,  177 

Benjamin,  Judah  P 202 

Benton,  I'homas  H 160 

Birney,  James  G 7 

Black,  Judge 23 

Bodeley,  William  S 75 

Bowmar,  J.  H.  D 226 

Brank,  Robert  M 146 

Brown ,  Milton 258 

Brown,  Neill  S 208 

Brown,  William  L 134 

Buckner,  Robert  H 30 

Burwell,  Armstead 233 

Cage,  Judge 24 

•Calhoun,  John  C 234,  253 

Campbell,  George  W 170 

Campbell,  John  A 205 

Campbell,  Washington 169 

Carey,  Matthew 154 

Carleton,  Mr 194 

Caruthers,  Abram 168 


Caruthers,  Robert  L 211 

Catron ,  John 1 45 

Chalmers,  Chancellor 251 

Child,  Judge 19 

Chilton,  John  M 105 

Clay,  Clement  C 5 

Clay,  Henry 158 

Clifford,  Nathan 185 

Clifton,  Caswell  R 8,  85 

Coalter,  George 21,  74 

Cocke,  John  W 186 

Coleman,  Nicholas 105 

Conrad,  Charles  M 196 

Cooper,  William  F 260 

Crabb,  Henry  A 136,  144 

Crawford,  Wm.  H 231 

Crittenden,  Robert 184 

Cross,  Edward 186 

Cummins,  William 186 

Gushing,  Caleb 255 

Davezac,  Mr '. 194 

Davis,  Fielding 23 

Davis,  Jefferson.... 2 26,  252,  253 

Davis,  Joseph  E 225 

Davis,  Reuben... iii 

Deavenport,  James 222 

Donelson,  John 9 

Drake,  John  N 94 

Duncan,  Stephen  A 17 

Dunn,  Case  of 47 

Dupree,  Col 248 

Elle^,  Henry  T 213 

Ervvin,  James 200 


INDEX    OF    NAMES. 


263. 


Etheridge,  Emerson 215 

Evans,  Samuel  D 232 

Ewel),  Gen 170 

Ewing.  Andrew  J 180 

Ewing,  Edwin 259 

Fare,  Major 210 

Fitzpatrick, 223 

Fletcher,  Thomas  H 181 

Fogg,  Francis  B 176 

Fogg,  Godfrey,  Sen 207 

Foster,  Ephraim  H 208 

Fowler,  Absalom 186 

Franklin,  State  of. 124 

Freeman,  John  D 218 

Garland,  A.  H 187 

Garner,  Squire loi 

Gibbs,  Gen 90 

Glenn,  David  C 251 

Graham,  Dr.  George 172 

Graves, 216 

Grayson,  Spence  M 30 

Green,  Nathan 166 

Griffith,  William  C 24 

Grimes,  John  R 197 

Grundy,  Felix 90,  154,  177 

Guion,  John  1 71 

Hamar,  Mrs 227 

Hampton,  Wade 69 

Hardin,  Benjamin 31 

Hardwicke,  William  A 72 

Harris,  Buckner  C 106 

Harris,  Wiley  P 108 

Harrison,  William  Henry. ..247 

Haskell,  William  H 256 

Hayes,  Andrew  C 8^ 

Hayes,  O.  B 162 

Haywood,  John 129 

Henning,  Mr 195 

Henry,  Patrick 169 

Herring,  Case  of. 40 


Hill,  E 231 

Hinman,  Mr 105 

Hinson,  Mr 98 

Holt,  Joseph 38 

Hopkins,  Arthur  F 5,  238 

Houston,  Sam 163,  242 

Howard,  Volney  E 83. 

Hubbard,  O.  B 91 

Hughes,  Beverly 103 

Humphreys,  David  C 258 

Hutchinson,  Anderson 84 

Jackson,  Andrew 9,  125,  169 

Jackson,  James 9 

Jarnagin,  Spencer 257 

Jenkins,  Mr 144 

Johnson,  Benjamin 1 86 

Johnson,  Cave 181 

Johnston,  Amos  R 92 

Joor,  General 22 

Kelley,  William 6. 

Lacy,  Thomas  J 186 

Lake,  William  A 86 

Lamar,  L.  Q.  C 112 

Lea,  Luke iii 

Ligon,  David  G 221 

Livingstone,  Edward  R 193. 

McClain,  William 91 

McClung,  Alexander  K 104 

McClung,  James 8 

McKinley,  John 7 

McKinney,  Robert  J 209 

McMurran,  John  T 30 

McNutt,  Alexander  G 74 

Magee,  Eugene 73 

Marshall,  John 180 

Maury,  Abram  P 164 

Mayes,  Daniel 45 

Mazereau,  Mr 194 

Meigs,  Return  J 173,  260 

Miller,  Horace  H 87 


-264 


INDEX    OF    NAMES. 


Miller,  Pleasant  M 169 

Mitchell,  James  C 241 

Mitchell,  J.  D 227 

Nelson,  Thomas  A.  R 182 

Nicholas,  George 19 

Nicholson,  Ira  R 23 

Nooe,  John  A 212 

Oldham,  Williamson  S 232 

Ormond,  John  J 219 

Overton,  John 128 

Paschal,  George  W 231 

Peyton,  Bali e 183 

Phelps,  Alonzo 36 

Pigg,  Case  of. 50 

Pike,  Albert 187 

Polk,  James  K 177 

Prentiss,  S.  S 31,  32,  71, 

184,  200 

Preston  (of  S.  C.) 121 

Price,  Sterling 171 

Quitman,  John  A ^85 

Randolph,  John 243 

Redd,  William  B 106 

Reed,  Thomas  B 24 

Reese,  William  B 120,  166 

Ringo,  Daniel 186 

Ripley,  Gen 195 

Rives,  William  C 167 

Rucks,  James 90 

Sevier,  Ambrose  H 185 

Sharkey,  Patrick  H 67 

Sharkey,  William  L 61 

Skipwith,  Fulwar iv 

Slidell,  John  A 202 


Smith,  Calvin  M 146 

Smith,  Henry  G 211 

Sneed,  Seaborn  G 232 

Soule,  Pierre 201 

Southern  Law  Review iii 

Thomas,  Mr vi 

Thompson,  Seymour  D iii 

Thornton,  Harry  1 7 

Tompkins,  Patrick  H 86 

Tratnall,  Frederick  W 186 

Turley,  William  B.... 165 

Turner,  Edward vii,  18 

Vannerson,  William 102 

Vaughn  v.  Phebe 141 

Walker,  David 186,  232 

Walker,  Duncan 28 

Walker,  Robert  J 24,  28,  2)Z 

Watson,  John  W.  C no 

Webber,  Richard  H 109 

Webster,  Daniel 1 63 

Wheeler,  Royal  T 232 

White,  Hugh  Lawson...ii6,  257 

Whiteside,  Jenkin 159 

Wilkins,  James  C 17 

Wilkinson,  Edward  C ,.  31 

Winchester,  George 1 08 

Wise,  Henry  A 193 

Workman,  Judge 195 

Yancey,  William  L 234,  255 

Yerger,  Edwin 212 

Yerger,  George  S 76 

Yerger,  J.  S , 79 

Yerger,  William 80 

ZoUicoffer,  Gen 92 


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